Assisted dying is coming to the British Isles — and a tiny island of 80,000 people in the Irish Sea has shown Westminster the way forward. The Isle of Man will become the first place to change its law after members of Tynwald’s upper house approved the final three amendments needed.

Introduced by GP and Member of the House of Keys Dr Alex Allinson, the Bill will legalise assisted dying for terminally ill adults with less than one year to live and who have been resident on the island for at least five years. It is a momentous change that will no doubt unleash a torrent of emotions for campaigners like Millie Blenkinsop-French, 81, who has supported assisted dying for more than 50 years.

Her fight for choice at the end of life became deeply personal four years ago, when she watched her son James suffer in agony as squamous cell carcinoma ate away at his body.

Over the last three years, I have closely followed the campaign to legalise assisted dying across the British Isles while leading the Express’s Give Us Our Last Rights crusade. It is perhaps no surprise that this self-governing British Crown Dependency has moved ahead of other parliaments.

Tynwald was the first national parliament to give women the vote in a general election in 1881. And the Isle of Man became the first jurisdiction in the British Isles to decriminalise abortion in 2019.

When I visited the island last month, many people I spoke to on the street were reluctant to share their view on assisted dying. One man explained that the island’s small population means any published comments are likely to be seen by someone who knows you.

But many whispered their quiet support for the Bill, often citing their own personal experiences of loved ones suffering at the end of life.

Outside Tynwald, campaigners were less shy. Sue Biggerstaff, 65, shared the harrowing story of her husband Simon, who died of motor neurone disease.

Describing how palliative care could not ease his agony, she told me: “He was still in pain because his body was decomposing while he was still alive.”

Opponents’ voices are loud in Westminster, where Kim Leadbeater’s similar assisted dying Bill is coming to the end of its committee stage and will face further votes among MPs in the coming months.

But campaigners remain quietly confident that politicians are listening to all perspectives and enough will be convinced to continue supporting the Bill.

There is now no denying that the time has come for this crucial societal change — and the respectful process that has taken place in the Isle of Man, with both supporters and opponents working to improve the legislation that a majority of its residents want, has shown us how it can be done.