Campaigners for assisted dying have raised the alarm that crucial new laws could be derailed in the House of Lords, where more than a thousand proposed changes threaten to run down the parliamentary clock.
Legislation Stalled by 'Lack of Time'
The sponsor of the Bill, Labour peer Lord Falconer of Thornton, has issued a stark warning that the proposed legislation is set to 'fail through lack of time'. The House of Lords reconvenes on Friday to continue its detailed, line-by-line examination of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, but progress has been glacial.
Lord Falconer tabled a motion on Thursday requesting additional time for peers to complete their scrutiny. He revealed that over 1,000 amendments have been tabled, organised into roughly 84 groups. So far, the Lords have spent 32 hours on the Bill with another 50 scheduled, yet in four committee days—about 17 hours—they have debated only 10 groups of amendments.
'If we continue at the rate we are going, this House will fail to complete the process of scrutiny,' Lord Falconer stated. 'We will reach no conclusions on the Bill... Instead, the Bill will fail through lack of time.'
A Battle Between Scrutiny and Sabotage
Supporters of the Bill accuse its opponents of time-wasting and obstruction, arguing that meticulous scrutiny is tipping into sabotage. However, critics insist the 'badly-written' legislation contains 'massive gaps' and requires extensive changes to protect vulnerable groups.
A source close to concerned peers said: 'Not a single Royal College, Professional body or Cabinet minister will attest to the safety of this bill. The duty of the Lords is to scrutinise and interrogate legislation, a role which is even more important when considering issues of life and death.'
Peers later backed Lord Falconer's non-binding motion for more time. Labour's chief whip in the Lords, Lord Kennedy of Southwark, said he would hold 'urgent discussions' to find a way forward but confirmed it would not be allocated Government time, as the administration remains neutral on the issue.
What the Bill Proposes and What Happens Next
If passed, the Bill would allow terminally ill adults in England and Wales with a prognosis of fewer than six months to live to apply for an assisted death, subject to approval by two doctors and an independent panel.
The legislation, which was narrowly approved by MPs in the Commons last June, must secure approval from both Houses before the current parliamentary session ends this spring. With vast swathes of amendments still to be debated, the race against time is intensifying.
Assisted dying campaigner Dame Esther Rantzen has urged the Lords not to block the landmark legislation, cautioning that 'scrutiny must not tip into sabotage'. The outcome now hinges on whether peers can find a path through the mountain of amendments before the session's end.
