Tears, hope and fear as assisted dying bill passed

Around the corner, less than a minute’s walk away on College Green, those opposed to the bill are also gathering.

They are joined by a 10ft-tall puppet of a severe judge, holding a giant syringe and pointing a condemning finger into the air.

“Kill the bill, not the ill,” they chant.

Hannah is a little further back, looking on and puffing on a lemon meringue pie-flavoured vape.

She fears the bill will change the way disabled people are viewed but is also thinking about her father.

“He was given six months but ended up living for four years,” she says. “Living those four years meant he was able to meet his grandchildren.”

Nearly everyone at both demonstrations has a personal tale; a personal reason for being in Westminster on Friday.

Jane cared for her mother in her last years. She says that time was difficult but also “very precious” to her.

She thinks the bill would push people like her mum into asking for an assisted death.

“I know a judge would be involved in deciding these things but how can they tell what is in someone’s soul?” she says.

“Someone can say with their mouth that they want to die, but how can a judge know what is really going on inside their head.”