Members of Parliament in Britain usually have a party line to toe. But occasionally, on matters of conscience, they are given a “free vote” and the chance to exercise their judgment independently. On November 29th MPs must make up their minds on one of the most consequential issues of all: whether people in England and Wales have the right to an assisted death. That is the date of the second reading of a private member’s bill put forward by Kim Leadbeater, a Labour backbencher, which would legalise assisted dying for terminally ill adults.