A fresh attempt to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales has been launched, with Labour MP Lauren Edwards vowing to “finish the job” by bringing back the exact same bill that ran out of time in the House of Lords earlier this year.
Edwards, the MP for Rochester and Strood, said she was “really disappointed and quite frustrated” when the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill – introduced last year by fellow Labour MP Kim Leadbeater – failed to clear the Lords after an unprecedented number of suggested amendments stalled its progress. The legislation would have allowed people over 18 who are expected to die within six months to be given help to end their own life, subject to safeguards.
“Lauren Edwards reintroduces assisted dying bill, threatening rare Parliament Act to bypass Lords opposition.”
By reintroducing an identical bill in this parliamentary session, Edwards is threatening to trigger the rarely used Parliament Act, which has been employed only seven times in the last century. Under those powers, if MPs pass the same bill in two consecutive sessions, the Lords cannot block it indefinitely. “It’s perfectly reasonable for us to ask the House of Lords to finish the job,” Edwards told the BBC. “Laws passed in the House of Commons are then refined by the House of Lords but they don’t have the opportunity to block them.”
Opponents of the bill – including the Royal College of Psychiatrists, disability charities and hospices – have warned that using the Parliament Act could create a law with substantial flaws, risking vulnerable people being pressured into ending their lives early. But Edwards insisted she was “playing by the rules” and suggested she was open to “sensible amendments” from peers.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, she asked the Lords to “do the really important job that they are there to do and that they do admirably and that is to refine the legislation”. Lord Carlile of Berriew said the current bill was not “robust” but indicated he and other peers were willing to work with Edwards “in a constructive spirit”. Labour MP Ashley Dalton said she was “deeply …” – the rest of her comment was not reported.
Edwards said faith in democracy must be restored as she argued the Commons had spoken. Whether the Lords will allow the bill to pass – or force the government into a historic constitutional standoff – remains to be seen.