The BBC has confirmed that Health Secretary Wes Streeting will vote against changing the law on assisted dying.

Backbench Labor MP Kim Leadbeater has introduced a bill proposing that terminally ill adults approaching the end of their lives would be given the right to choose to hasten their death if they wish.

But at a meeting of Labor MPs on Monday, Streeting said he did not believe the palliative care system was good enough to support assisted dying.

The Prime Minister has made it clear that the government will remain neutral on the issue and MPs will be given an independent vote.

A similar move was rejected by MPs in 2015, but recent polling has consistently suggested that a majority of the public supports changes to the law.

Ahead of the vote on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill on 29 November, Cabinet ministers have been instructed not to campaign publicly on either side of the issue.

Dozens of Labor MPs are believed to still be undecided about the plans and streeting’s intervention, First reported by The TimesMay be particularly influential because of his position as Health Secretary.

It is also notable because Streeting last voted to legalize assisted dying in a Commons vote in 2015 – meaning he has since changed his mind.

Last month, he told the Financial Times that he was “struggling” with the issue, saying that he “could embrace the principle” of assisted dying but that he was “not sure we as a country would We have the right end-of-life care available to us to be able to.” A real option on assisted death”.

He has also spoken of concerns about the “slippery slope” – which the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has also warned about.

Streeting is the second cabinet minister in two days to announce his intention to vote against the change in the law, after Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood told The Times on Tuesday of her “unwavering belief in the sanctity and value of human life”.

The pair head two government departments, Health and Justice, which will be tasked with implementing any new laws.

Leadbeater has said that patients suffering from serious illnesses are suffering “horribly painful deaths” and that “people deserve choice”.

The exact details of his proposed legislation – setting out the circumstances that could make someone eligible for an assisted death – are not expected to be published until closer to the Commons debate at the end of next month.

However, Leadbeater has indicated that his bill would restrict assisted dying to terminally ill patients, and stressed that “people with disabilities or mental illness who are not terminally ill are entitled to their There is no question of imposing pressure to end life”.

She has said that there should be both medical and judicial protections, so that any intervention would require two doctors and a judge to sign off, and that she would like to see a “time limit” on the diagnosis of patients.

But opponents say there are still serious concerns about safety measures.

Earlier this month, Baroness Tawny Grey-Thompson told the BBC she was concerned about the impact on vulnerable and disabled people, as well as the potential for coercive control and the ability of doctors to estimate how much time a patient has. is left.

The archbishop met Leadbeater on Monday, but no details of their discussions were released.

Assisted dying is commonly used to describe a situation where someone who is terminally ill seeks medical help in order to receive lethal medications that they take themselves.

Assisted suicide – deliberately helping another person end their life – is currently banned in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, with a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison.

The bill would cover England and Wales, where – like Northern Ireland – it is against the law to help someone end their life.

In Scotland – where this is not a specific criminal offence, but can leave a person open to being charged with murder – a bill is currently being considered which, if passed, would allow terminally ill adults to take their own lives. Will give the right to request help to end the.