Relatives of people who have brought legal cases on assisted dying are for the first time making a joint appeal for an inquiry into the current law in England and Wales, saying there is an overwhelming case for change. An open letter, whose signatories include Phil Newby, who is terminally ill with motor neurone disease, demands parliament look again at the issue five years after a private members bill was overwhelmingly rejected. This week, the Conservative MP Andrew Mitchell said there was growing support in parliament for a “tight” change in the law to give terminally ill people a choice over how and when their lives end. Mitchell, the new co-chair of an all-party parliamentary group on the issue, told Sky News: “We need to make clear that we are not looking here for a massive change. We are looking for very, very tight reform. “I think that given the very limited nature of these proposals, that it would be for someone who is within six months of the end of their life, with very strong safeguards, the decision being made by a high court judge, by two doctors – I think those limited proposals may command the support of parliament in the next four years.” Lord Falconer, who was lord chancellor in Tony Blair’s cabinet, has also said the law needs to be reviewed. “The law is an absolute mess and totally lacks compassion. It is so urgently time for a change,” he said earlier this year. The other signatories to the open letter to the justice secretary, published in the Guardian, are Omar Puente, whose wife Debbie Purdy died in 2014 after living with multiple sclerosis for almost 20 years; Jane Nicklinson, whose husband had locked-in syndrome before he died in 2012; and the mother of Omid T, who had multiple system atrophy and died in 2018 at a clinic in Switzerland. Their letter says: “We have come together, for the first time, because we now believe there is an overwhelming case to set up an inquiry into the law. “It has now been half a decade since parliament last examined legislation to legalise assisted dying, and 15 years since it formally scrutinised the evidence. In that time, the number of Britons travelling to Switzerland had rocketed sixfold; successive countries, including Canada, Germany, Italy, and parts of the United States and Australia have legalised assisted dying, demonstrating that such changes can be achieved in a safe and compassionate way; public opinion has dramatically risen to nearly 90% supporting a change in the law for the terminally ill and incurably suffering; and there has been a significant shift in medical opinion and from within the disability community.” An opinion poll last year showed that more than 90% of the UK population believed assisted dying should be legalised for those with terminal illnesses, and 88% considered it acceptable for people with dementia to receive help to end their lives, provided they consented before losing their mental capacity. Last year, the high court said the courts were not the places to decide moral issues. Ruling against further consideration of Newby’s case for help with ending his life, it said: “In our judgment the courts are not the venue for arguments that have failed to convince parliament.” Under the 1961 Suicide Act, it is unlawful in England and Wales to encourage or assist the suicide or attempted suicide of another person, with a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison. Andrew Copson, the chief executive of Humanist UK, which organised the letter, said the signatories were “uniting to call for a review into one of the most morally unjust laws in our country”.