The assisted dying bill, which passed the House of Commons earlier this year, faces significant delays in the House of Lords after peers submitted an extraordinary number of amendments—over 1,100. The volume of proposed changes has slowed the bill's progress and raised the risk of it failing entirely.
Senior opponents of the bill have urged Lords not to deliberately block it, but the sheer number of amendments could effectively stall the legislation. Some fear the bill may collapse without a substantive vote on its principles, as time runs out in the parliamentary session.
The bill's supporters argue that the amendments are a tactic to delay and ultimately kill the legislation. However, the government has not yet indicated how it will manage the parliamentary timetable to ensure the bill receives proper consideration.
If the bill does not complete its passage through the Lords before the end of the session, it will fall and would need to be reintroduced in a future parliament. The situation remains fluid, with both sides watching closely as the process unfolds.
