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Decisions about assisted dying should be made on a “secular basis”, a government minister said ahead of MPs voting on the issue on Friday.

Home Office minister Seema Malhotra acknowledged that “people have their faiths” but decisions in Parliament should be “based on the evidence”.

Her comments came after Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said she would not support a change in the law on assisted dying because of her Muslim faith.

Ms Malhotra said she would vote against the legislation on Friday, telling Sky News she was “concerned about the challenges, the pressures that could be put on vulnerable people” if there was a change in the law.

She said: “People have their faiths but I think what is important is that when we are making decisions as members of Parliament we are making them on a secular basis because that’s the way our Parliament is designed in terms of making decisions based on the evidence and arguing the case for law, the advantages, the disadvantages, the concerns in Parliament.

“And I think that is an important principle to me.

“I want to see that we have a debate that is in a way that everybody feels that their voice can be heard, that they can be respected for the views that they hold, that Parliament is able to make a decision on this on Friday and then that we know the government will abide by the will of Parliament.”

Justice Secretary Ms Mahmood has previously stated she will oppose the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, telling the Times: “As a Muslim, I have an unshakeable belief in the sanctity and value of human life.”

Sir Keir Starmer has been warned that he faces “total humiliation” on the world stage with his plans to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius on the brink of collapse in the next 48 hours.

With Sir Keir’s national security adviser Jonathan Powell heading to the US in a late bid to dissuade Donald Trump from vetoing the controversial deal, doubts have now also been raised by the new prime minister of Mauritius, Navinchandra Ramgoolam, who has expressed doubts about the deal struck with his predecessor.

After a meeting with Mr Powell earlier this week, Mr Ramgoolam said: “I informed them that I wished to have more time to study the details with a panel of legal advisers.”

David Maddox and Millie Cooke report

Dame Esther Rantzen has defended Sir Keir Starmer for staying silent on how he plans to vote on the assisted dying bill on Friday.

With the vote teetering on a knife edge, the prime minister has faced criticism for refusing to reveal his stance - despite high profile interventions from ministers including Wes Streeting and Shabana Mahmood.

Sir Keir has confirmed he will vote, but not yet whether he will support Kim Leadbeater’s bill.

But Dame Esther Rantzen, who is terminally ill and has argued strongly for a change in the law, has defended the prime minister;s decision not to reveal how he will vote.

Archie Mitchell reports

Dame Esther Rantzen has reiterated her disappointment in health secretary Wes Streeting after his intervention in the assisted dying bill.

Mr Streeting - who plans to vote against the assisted dying bill - has suggested there may need to be cuts to other NHS services if the policy was brought in.

Cabinet ministers were told not to campaign for a change in either direction. Ms Rantzen hit out at the health secretary and said “he has been very vocal in his opposition”.

Ahead of Friday’s Commons debate, Dame Esther has written to MPs urging them all to take part and vote.

Dame Esther Rantzen has urged MPs guided by their religious beliefs to be honest about why they will vote against plans to legalise assisted dying for the terminally ill.

The broadcaster, who is terminally ill, has been a strong advocate for changing the law to allow dying adults to take their own lives in limited circumstances, without fear of their families being prosecuted for helping them.

The 84-year-old revealed in December last year that she had joined Dignitas, to give her the choice of an assisted death in Switzerland.

Ahead of a debate on the assisted dying Bill on Friday, Dame Esther said she was “heartened” by the fact Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood had disclosed it was her religion which was informing her opposition to the Bill.

The senior Cabinet minister came under fire from Labour peer Lord Falconer for a strongly-worded letter to constituents in which she made clear her opposition to the Bill.

Dame Esther told the broadcaster LBC: “I mean, what worries me is the number of people who are guided by their faith - that’s fine, that’s their choice, whether they’re Evangelical, Christian or Catholic. Yes, they have the right to choose, but please be honest about your real motivation.”

The journalist and television presenter also said some opponents of the Bill had been “claiming facts which are not facts, distorting evidence, when really their reason is that they believe for faith reasons, religious reasons, that this Bill should be opposed”.

Former prime minister Lord David Cameron has backed the move to legalise assisted dying for terminally-ill adults after previously opposing the legislation.

The Private Member’s Bill is due for its second reading in the House of Commons on Friday, in the first debate and vote of its kind in the House since 2015.

MPs will be given a free vote on the issue, allowing them to decide according to their conscience rather than in line with party policy.

The Bill, which covers England and Wales, says that only terminally ill adults with less than six months left to live and a settled wish to die would be eligible.

Jabed Ahmed reports

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