A fresh attempt to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales has been launched, with the Labour MP Lauren Edwards threatening to use rarely triggered powers to override the House of Lords if peers block the legislation a second time.
Edwards, the MP for Rochester and Strood, told the BBC she would bring an identical bill to the one passed by the Commons last year but which ran out of time in the Lords after an unprecedented number of suggested amendments. The proposed law — the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill — would allow 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 launches identical assisted dying bill, threatening to use Parliament Act to override House of Lords”
By reintroducing exactly the same legislation, Edwards risks triggering the Parliament Act, a mechanism used only seven times in the last century. Under its powers, if MPs pass an identical bill in two consecutive parliamentary sessions, peers cannot block it a second time. The Lords can still suggest amendments, but if they do not pass the bill as a whole before the end of the next session — usually about a year — the unamended bill could become law without their approval.
Opponents have previously warned that using the Parliament Act would risk creating a law out of a bill about which the Royal College of Psychiatrists, a range of disability charities and hospices have major concerns. The earlier bill, brought by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, was not passed by the Lords after what critics described as substantial flaws that risked vulnerable people being pressured into ending their lives early.
Edwards told the BBC she was "playing by the rules" and asking the House of Lords to do the same. "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," she said. "It's perfectly reasonable for us to ask the House of Lords to finish the job."
Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Edwards suggested she was open to seeing changes and that many peers had proposed "sensible amendments". "I would ask them to do the really important job that they are there to do and that they do admirably and that is to refine the legislation the House of Commons has introduced," she added.
Lord Carlile of Berriew said the bill in its current form was not "robust" but that he and other peers were willing to work with Edwards "in a constructive spirit". Labour MP Ashley Dalton said she was "deeply …" — her full comments were not available in the source material.
The move sets up a constitutional clash between the Commons and Lords, with Edwards betting that repeated public and parliamentary support for assisted dying will force peers to relent or risk being bypassed entirely.