A UK Labour MP has announced that she will scrap a proposed major safeguard to her assisted suicide Bill, leading critics to claim that patient protections are being removed before the draft legislation has even become law.

In November, Kim Leadbeater MP was able to persuade the House of Commons to vote for her Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill at Second Reading by 330 to 275, partly because she gave robust assurances of its safety.

Among the key proposed safeguards was the requirement for a High Court judge to scrutinise and approve each application for doctor-assisted death. Ms Leadbeater announced today, however, that the judiciary will not be involved, but that each application will instead go before a multi-disciplinary expert panel which will include a social worker, lawyer, and psychiatrist.

James Cleverly, the former Conservative Home Secretary who opposed the Bill, took to social media to warn voters that safeguards were being removed by a loaded committee chosen by Ms Leadbeater to scrutinise the Bill.