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Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, who introduced the assisted dying legislation to Parliament, has urged the government to take responsibility for pushing the bill through. With concerns rising that the legislation may not pass in time, Leadbeater emphasized that the government should honor the decisions made by democratically-elected Members of Parliament. She highlighted the need for respecting the parliamentary majority that backed the bill last June, despite its slow progress in the House of Lords due to numerous amendments.
The bill secured a majority of 23 votes in the House of Commons but has faced significant delays in the Lords, where a small group of opponents appears to be engaging in filibustering tactics. Some Labour MPs opposed to the legislation have expressed strong opposition to any attempts to force the bill through, especially if this involves bypassing the scrutiny normally carried out by the Lords. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, currently visiting China, stated that the government will remain neutral on the legislation. While he personally supports reforming assisted dying laws and has voted in favor of the bill, the government as a whole has opted to allow MPs and ministers to vote according to their conscience rather than enforcing a unified party stance.
As the deadline for the bill’s passage nears—expected by the end of the parliamentary session in May—pressure is mounting on the prime minister to facilitate its progress. One option would be for the government to allocate extra time for debate during this session or for a backbench MP to reintroduce the bill in the next parliamentary session. However, the government has ruled out reissuing the legislation as a government-backed bill. Lord Kennedy, the chief whip in the Lords, remarked: “I have enough problems getting the government’s programme through at the moment, let alone trying to deal with this bill. So I promise you it is not going to come back as a government bill.”
Leadbeater argued to the BBC that since the bill has already been passed by MPs in the Commons, the government has a democratic duty to support its progress through Parliament. She acknowledged the government’s neutral stance out of respect for differing views within the cabinet and across Parliament, but insists that respecting the will of elected representatives should take precedence. Meanwhile, Labour remains divided on the issue, with a senior MP warning that intervention by the prime minister could cause a major split among Labour MPs, suggesting the prime minister may lack the strength to manage such a fallout. Within the House of Lords, debate continues to be contentious. Lord Falconer, who is guiding the bill through Parliament alongside Leadbeater, expressed that without a “fundamental change” in the approach of the House of Lords, the chances of the bill becoming law are extremely slim.
To overcome the obstacles in the Lords, Lord Falconer has proposed invoking the Parliament Act. This rarely used legislation permits a bill passed by the Commons twice to become law without the Lords’ consent. If reintroduced and passed again by the Commons, the bill could bypass the Lords entirely in the subsequent session. This proposal has sparked sharp criticism from opponents of the bill. Labour’s David Smith described it as a “grossly unjust use of parliamentary procedure,” while Jess Asato argued that a bill with such serious life-and-death consequences deserves thorough scrutiny and should not be rushed through Parliament. Voices within the Lords also voiced concern about the precedent such action would set. Former minister Lord Ahmad warned that it would establish a very different approach to Parliamentary process. On the other hand, Lord Pannick KC, a crossbench peer, noted that this debate had already dragged on for eight days, with the committee still only discussing the first clause, highlighting frustrations over the drawn-out scrutiny
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