Mildenhall campaigner Matt Minns on assisted dying bill

MPs will vote on a private members' bill in the House of Commons on Friday, which could pave the way for allowing terminally-ill people to choose to end their life.

Matthew Minns, son of David Minns, is continuing his dad's legacy after he lost his battle with multiple myeloma - a rare form of blood cancer - last year. 

He was diagnosed in 2020 - just months after his daughter Katie, Matt's sister, had discovered her cancer had returned. She died in 2021.

David Minns was a vocal campaigner for assisted dying (Image: David Minns) David, who also developed an organ damaging condition called amyloidosis, was a passionate campaigner for a change in the law to allow people to be able to die with dignity.

"Neither of them wanted to die those deaths. When you think of ways to die you do not think of being in an awful lot of pain," said Matt.

"I totally recognise that there are arguments for keeping the law as it is, that there are people worried about the coercion and things like that. I don't doubt that.

"The safeguards are there in the law to prevent people from being coerced. 

"We have to change the law. It is cruel."

Former West Suffolk MP Matt Hancock said David had changed his view on assisted dying (Image: Matt Hancock) READ MORE: Suffolk MPs divided on assisted dying bill ahead of Friday's vote

Former Health Secretary and West Suffolk MP Matt Hancock has voiced his support for Friday's bill, and stated David's campaign had changed his mind. 

He said: "I can remember the moment that I changed my mind and became in favour of assisted dying when I was Health Secretary. 

"Talking to him and his family was incredibly moving. He knew his death was inevitable and risked being painful, and he begged me to get the law changed and it didn’t change in time for him."

Matthew described his father and sister as "incredibly determined people". 

On Katie, Matthew said: "She remained determined. She remained full of all her incredible life force all the way through. 

"She lived a full life with incredible determination to cope with a very difficult situation, and my dad was the same."

Matt Minns says we have to change the law (Image: Matt Minns)

If approved, new legislation would give terminally-ill people the option to end their own life as long as they met a set of criteria. 

The individual would have to be over 18, in the last six months of their life, have the mental capacity to make their own decision, seek independent assessments from two doctors and made a declaration to end their own life. 

A decision would then have to be approved by a judge in the High Court.

To see how your MPs are expected to vote on the Bill turn to page 8/9 of today's newspaper.