Friday’s newspaper front pages report on the assisted dying vote today in the House of Commons. The vote will take place this afternoon after one more debate in the Commons. If passed, it will head to the House of Lords for scrutiny. Most of the papers are in support of the bill.
Elsewhere, the latest from the Israel-Iran conflict also makes the UK front pages as Donald Trump signals it United States could enter the war within weeks, fuelling fear the UK could soon join them.
‘Allow us the choice to have a good death’ – assisted dying vote today
- The Daily Express leads with a plea from a supporter of the bill, urging MPs to allow the terminally ill the “choice to have a good death.”
- The Daily Telegraph says the assisted dying bill today sits on a “knife-edge” as several Labour MPs who had backed the bill made a U-turn, calling for other MPs to reject it. The bill returns to the Commons after “a series of controversies” which critics say “drastically weakened” the plans.
The Daily Mail is one of the few papers against the bill.
- The Mail follows with an “emotional appeal” from shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick, who says he will not support the assisted dying bill. Writing in the Mail, Jenrick says his grandmother Dorothy brought joy to the family as she “defied a terminal diagnosis for nearly a decade” and the prospect of legalising assisted dying “fills him with dread”.
Trump sets Israel-Iran deadline
Several papers report on Trump’s two-week window before he decides whether the US will join Israel in attacking Iran.
- The Guardian says the US president is setting a “two-week deadline” to leave the window open for diplomacy.
- The Times calls Trump’s two-week “reprieve” a “step back from the brink”. The paper says the US president is looking for an “off ramp” after advisers became concerned at Iran’s ability to target US bases in the Middle East.
- The i reports that the UK may allow the US use of its airbases if Donald Trump decides to join the Middle East conflict, but is “unlikely to join bombing campaign”.
UK’s hottest day of the year … so far
- The Telegraph has a picture of a dog cooling off with a shake after a swim as it reports on Thursday’s soaring 30C temperatures in the UK.
- The Daily Star says Thursday was the hottest day of the year so far with temperatures peaking at 32C.