Assisted suicide and euthanasia must be available on the National Health Service (NHS), paid for by British taxpayers, a bill to legalise it will require.

Kim Leadbeater, the Labour MP driving the legislation through Westminster, is planning amendments to stipulate that the practice must be available free at the point of use, even if it is provided by private companies.

Ministers believe that thousands of people a year may ultimately end up being helped to kill themselves under the new regime as they work to establish the impact of the law on the NHS.

The London Times revealed this week that ‘assisted dying’ would be provided by private companies under options being developed to stop requests hampering efforts to bring down NHS waiting lists.

The NHS would contract out ‘assisted death’ services to the private sector to ensure that patients had free access at the point of use.