Dr Simon Opher, a GP and the Labour MP for Stroud, suggested assisted dying is a “tool” in palliative care.

In a sign of the level of feeling on the divisive issue, more than 160 MPs made bids to speak during Friday’s Commons debate – the first on assisted dying in almost a decade.

The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, expected to face a vote by early afternoon, would allow terminally ill adults in England and Wales with less than six months to live to end their lives, subject to the approval of two doctors and a High Court judge.

Kim Leadbeater, the Labour MP who has put forward the Bill, said debate in the Commons on the issue is “long overdue” and, while not an easy subject, it is the job of parliamentarians to “address the issues that matter to people”.

Dr Simon Opher, who voted in favour, said, told the Commons: “A lot of patients who are dying of cancer ask you whether you can curtail their life and finish their life a little bit early – that’s a very common thing they ask.

“I’ve had two patients go to Dignitas on their own, without family members, because the family members were fearful that they would be arrested on their return.

“And I’ve also – we’ve been discussing this: giving a double dose or morphine – and I think a lot of doctors, almost all doctors in terminal care have probably done this, doubled the dose of morphine knowing it might, you know, curtail the patient’s life. That’s a big fudge – that puts me in a very vulnerable position.”

Dr Opher added: “I totally support what everyone’s saying about really developing palliative care is really important, but that does not go instead of assisted dying. The things go together: assisted dying is one of our tools in palliative care as I see it.”

Dr Luke Evans, also a GP and the Conservative MP for Hinckley and Bosworth, said: “How do you picture your own death? It’s a question we rarely ask ourselves but one every one of us will face, and for me, I hope it’s with peace, surrounded by loved ones, free from pain, content with a life well lived.”

He said of some conditions for which there is no way to ease pain or the risk of a sudden deterioration: “Should we not even offer those suffering at least the chance of dignity in their death? And this is what the Bill stands for”.