Labour MP Kim Leadbeater has pledged to reintroduce the assisted dying bill in the next parliamentary session after it fell due to being blocked in the House of Lords. Speaking at a press conference, Leadbeater described the obstruction as 'undemocratic' and said she would table an identical bill, which peers would be unable to stop under parliamentary rules.
The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which passed the Commons in June, was stalled in the Lords after over 1,200 amendments were tabled, more than 800 from just seven peers. The bill proposed allowing adults in England and Wales with a prognosis of six months or less to apply for an assisted death, subject to approval by two doctors and an expert panel. It ran out of time as the current session ends next week.
Leadbeater rejected claims the bill was flawed, calling the criticism 'disrespectful' and stating that opponents would never support any version. She emphasised a 'clear public appetite' for change and said she respected the Lords but found the process 'anything other than democratic.'
Rebecca Wilcox, whose mother Esther Rantzen has terminal lung cancer, expressed frustration that the bill was 'thwarted by such a petty few.' Labour peer Lord Falconer, who led efforts in the Lords, accused a small number of peers of 'pure obstructionism.' Opponents, including Baroness Grey-Thompson, argued the bill had 'too many gaps' and that disabled people felt frightened by its provisions.
