Lauren Edwards, the Labour MP for Rochester and Strood, has launched a fresh attempt to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales — telling the BBC she wants to "finish the job".
Edwards said she would bring an identical bill to the one passed by the House of Commons last year but which ran out of time in the House of Lords after an unprecedented number of suggested amendments.
“Fresh attempt to legalise assisted dying launched as MP threatens to use Parliament Act to override Lords”
The proposed law, known as the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, would allow people over the age of 18 who are expected to die within six months to be given help to end their own life, subject to certain safeguards.
Its opponents have argued it had substantial flaws that risked vulnerable people being pressured into ending their lives early. The Royal College of Psychiatrists, as well as a range of disability charities and hospices, have expressed major concerns.
By bringing exactly the same legislation, Edwards is threatening to trigger rarely used powers to override peers' objections should they refuse to pass it again. Bills usually only become law if both Houses of Parliament agree on its final wording. But the Parliament Act — used only seven times in the last century — means that if MPs pass an identical bill in two consecutive parliamentary sessions, peers cannot block it a second time.
The Lords can suggest amendments, which if agreed by the Commons would be added to the bill. But if they do not pass the bill as a whole before the end of the next session — usually in around a year's time — the unamended bill could become law even without their approval.
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 to the bill 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 said.
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". The bill was originally brought by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, but was not passed by the Lords in April after delays caused by the number of amendments.