The STROUD MP burst into tears during a parliamentary debate on assisted dying as she shared the testimony of people who had contacted her about the subject.

MP Siobhan Baillie became emotional during the Westminster Hall debate on the subject and claimed she had received a huge number of emails and letters on assisted dying.

While she signalled she was sympathetic to changing the law to legalise assisted dying, Ms Baillie said she would need to see a specific piece of legislation before she knew she could back it.

As she shared “very thoughtful correspondence” on assisted dying from her constituents, Ms Baillie told MPs: “Another gentleman went on in a very thoughtful and long correspondence where he talks passionately about his mother, a working-class Liverpool woman, who went on to become a curator at historic royal palaces.

"He said the weeks through her illness was actually rather life-affirming.

“His mum considered taking her own life as her best friend had actually done through a terminal diagnosis but she didn’t and she told us she was glad that she hadn’t because she would have missed out on the experience of so much love and goodwill from families and carers.

“Yet she also went on to plead for death in the final weeks, it took 16 weeks for her to die, effectively from starvation, and I mention this gentleman because he said that when my mum was dying…”

The Conservative MP at this point became emotional, but battled tears and continued: “This is hard. We all get these.”

Reading out the man’s letter, she added: “I promised myself that I at the very least would write a letter, and I would write this letter to my MP so that the bitter disagreement with the law and my experience would be on record and known, and thank you for taking the time for it.”

Ms Baillie agreed with Conservative former minister David Davis about the need for a lengthy debate on assisted dying, telling MPs: “We have to have days on this.

"This has to be very thought-through and a big debate with everybody involved.”

Haltemprice and Howden MP Sir David had said any law change would require a “multi-day second reading to take it through, it requires a many multi-day report stage to take it through, to get it right”.

Ms Baillie had earlier said constituents had contacted her in “droves” about assisted dying, telling the debate: “I think there hasn’t been a surgery for some time when somebody hasn’t come in.

“At a public Q&A a gentleman broke down in tears thinking about the death of his wife.

“A lady very carefully walked me through her experience of the death of her sister, culminating in a trip to Dignitas and describing the place, and it has never left me.

“I have to say that steadily over a period of many years being the Member of Parliament for Stroud, constituents’ experiences have changed my views, and arguments about choice, compassion, the ability to plan, is very powerful to me.”

While she suggested she was sympathetic to changing the law, she added she would “need to see legislation in front of me before making a final decision”.