LABOUR leader Jeremy Corbyn threw his weight behind a change in the law on organ donation in England today to ensure people have to opt out of being donors.

The Organ Donation (Deemed Consent) Bill presented by Labour’s Geoffrey Robinson seeks to introduce presumed consent in England, after Wales moved to an opt-out system and Scotland decided to follow suit.

Speaking in the Commons today, Mr Corbyn said of Mr Robinson’s Bill: “It’s wonderful he’s got this this Bill introduced and I hope today the House can pass it and thus save an awful lot of people’s lives in the future.”

Mr Robinson said a “certain inertia” had set in over the last four years with organ donation slowing, describing the situation in England as “disappointing.”

He said: “We have some of the lowest rates of consent for organ donation in western Europe, low family rates of consent being one of the major barriers, so, in effect, preventing one third of available organs from being used.”

Mr Robinson also spoke about 10-year-old Max Johnson, whose life was saved by a heart transplant earlier this year after the family of nine-year-old Keira Ball donated her organs following her death in a road accident.

The Coventry North West MP acknowledged the change would not “make an immediate difference tomorrow” but he hoped it would increase the availability of organs in the coming years.

He added that a cautious assessment by the NHS suggested that the opt-out system could save up to 500 lives every year.

Labour’s Eleanor Smith also supported the Bill, saying it could ease the “silent crisis” in organ donation among black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) people.

According to government figures, of the 6,500 people currently on the waiting list for an organ, 1,000 are from Asian backgrounds and 800 are black.

Ms Smith told the Commons that there needed to be more “willingness” to discuss donation in the BAME community.

Health Minister Jackie Doyle-Price confirmed that the government would “give its wholehearted support” to the legislation.

The Bill received an unopposed second reading and will now undergo further scrutiny at the committee stage.