Assisted dying vote on a knife-edge in Scotland

And the MSP bidding to give terminally ill Scots the right to request help to die has made a last ditch plea to have the legislation passed.

Scottish Liberal Democrat, Liam McArthur, insists the proposals he has developed would be "the toughest and most comprehensively safeguarded assisted dying Bill in the world."

But meeting with campaigners who back a change of the law outside Holyrood ahead of the final vote tonight, he told LBC that getting it through "would be tight."

"I have no doubt there are still colleagues who don't themselves know how they're going to vote, they still need to listen to the debate, the enormity of this weighs heavily on them and I understand that.

"This has been Parliament at its best. MSPs have engaged with this seriously, respectfully and in the manner the public would expect. I hope that continues this evening, but that Parliament has the courage of its convictions and backs a change in the law that's long overdue and desperately needed."

He added: "I'm confident a majority of my colleagues believe a ban on assisted dying is failing too many Scots at the end of life and that introducing more choice, more dignity at the end of life is the right thing to do.

"I would impress on them that not backing the Bill won't make a single Scot safer but will leave growing numbers of dying Scots more at risk, more vulnerable, and more isolated, there are serious consequences to not changing the law.

"We can and must do better than this. We can follow in the footsteps of places like Australia Nwew Zealand and the US where laws of this type have been operating safely and successfully for many many years."

Mr McArthur believes that after 175 amendments from the 328 debated last week were approved, the Bill is "now the toughest and most comprehensively safeguarded assisted dying bill in the world."

Opponents of the legislation, who fear the impact of assisted dying on the disabled and other vulnerable groups, will also be gathering outside the Scottish Parliament in advance of the knife-edge vote.

Scottish Labour MSP Paul O'Kane is voting against the Bill and he told LBC: "My position has always been that I would listen to the debate and enter into the process in good faith, however the safeguards I would expect to see are not there, there are still holes in the Bill, too many unanswered questions around coercion, about the rights of disabled people, about cross border issues, a whole myriad of things, which leads me to the place that this is not a good Bill.

"I think whatever happens tonight it will be the source of legal challenge, and it's unfortunate that many of these issues have not been resolved and we will have to see how that plays out if the Bill passes, but my sense is that people are starting to move against the Bill."

This is the third time MSPs have considered legislation on assisted dying, with two previous attempts having failed at their first vote.

The Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bil would allow for Scots to legally seek help to end their life, with the Bill requiring two doctors would have both to confirm that a person in terminally ill and has the mental capacity to make such a request.

A change introduced last week would mean that people should be "reasonably expected" to have six months to live or less before they would be eligible for an assisted death.

The Scottish government has taken a neutral stance on the Bill, and MSPs will not be whipped by their parties on how to vote.

However First Minister John Swinney is opposed, as is Scottish Conservative leader, Russell Findlay, and Scottish Labour leader, Anas Sarwar. Health Secretary Neil Gray has abstained but is expected to vote this evening.

And last night to add to the debate, the Scottish Government published a commentary on the Bill which stated: "the costs associated with delivery of the Bill… are likely to be high, and will require a degree of reprioritisation… although we would always seek to keep any negative impact on other services to a minimum.”

Groups in the medical profession - including the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCS) and Royal Pharmaceutical Society - have also recently made clear their opposition the Bill.

Another voting against is Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes who believes the amendments passed last week make the Bill less safe. "It is now riskier and after MSPs rejected critical safeguards and outsourced essential protections for doctors to the UK Government.

"Doctors, psychiatrists, pharmacists and palliative care specialists - the people who would be tasked with implementing this - are asking us not to do it.

"These are the people on the front line of compassion in Scotland, the people who have dedicated their lives and careers to helping people in life and in death. They think this Bill is unsafe."

But Emma Cooper, convener of campaign group, Friends at the End (Fate), said: "The vast majority of people in every single constituency across Scotland are asking for assisted dying to be made available to those who are mentally competent and in the last six months of their life.

"We cannot deny those who are going to die the right to choose. It is simply a misconception that pain relief can alleviate the suffering of all conditions at the end of life.

"Passing this Bill is the right thing to do, the only compassionate decision."