The assisted suicide Bill has today been widely pronounced as dead by commentators after it was revealed that it will “almost certainly” run out of time in the House of Lords and will not become law after the Government Chief Whip in the Lords confirmed that the Government will not be committing any further time to the Bill.
Private Members’ Bills, like the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, are only debated on Fridays, and despite seven additional sitting Fridays being granted for the Bill before Christmas on top of the seven which had already been scheduled, even the team behind the Bill now expect it to fail.
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New analysis reveals near-unprecedented levels of opposition to the Bill in the House of Lords
Assisted suicide campaigners have repeatedly claimed that just seven Peers have been blocking the Bill by tabling lots of amendments.
A new analysis by Right To Life UK’s Public Affairs team has, however, confirmed that this spin from assisted suicide campaigners paints a deeply misleading picture of the actual situation in the House of Lords.
The analysis shows that nearly 80 Peers have so far tabled or signed amendments highlighting concerns with the Bill and that 131 Peers have either spoken against the Bill or signed amendments raising such concerns during its passage through the Lords.
This is significant because Bill supporters are seemingly attempting to persuade MPs to revive the Bill in the next parliamentary session and force it through using the Parliament Acts, on the basis that a small number of Peers have inappropriately blocked its passage. Our analysis shows this claim to be wholly untrue.
131is an exceptionally high number of Peers opposing a Bill, particularly one where debates are reserved for Fridays when Peers are often not expected to be in Parliament. It is even more remarkable given that the Bill has not yet completed Committee Stage or reached its Report Stage or Third Reading. In addition to these 131 Peers, it is likely that more Peers will speak out during future sittings and it is known that many more Peers are opposed to the Bill. Others have already spoken out in the media or expressed concerns via written parliamentary questions.
Contrary to the misleading claims of Bill supporters, the number of Peers opposing the Bill by speaking against it or signing amendments raising concerns is therefore among the highest number ever recorded for a Bill in the House of Lords, even before the Bill has completed its Committee Stage.
Those Peers who have spoken against the Bill or signed amendments include Peers appointed to the House of Lords because of their expertise in relevant areas, including a former President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and President of the British Medical Association, the former Chief Executive of NHS England, a leading Professor of palliative medicine, Peers living with disabilities, and legal experts, including a former Attorney General and the former President of the Family Division of the High Court.
This large number of Peers have been subjecting the assisted suicide Bill to extensive scrutiny due to what opponents of the Bill have said are dangerous flaws and a lack of adequate safeguards within the Bill.
Despite claims to the contrary, there has been no filibuster. According to Nikki da Costa, former Director of Legislative Affairs at 10 Downing Street, the average speech length has been under 5 minutes. Experts have confirmed that Peers have no obligation to return the Private Members’ Bill to the Lords.
Poll shows majority of the public do not support bypassing House of Lords to force through assisted suicide Bill
A recent poll published from More In Common shows that the majority of the public does not support bypassing the House of Lords to force through the assisted suicide Bill, as would occur if the Parliament Acts were invoked in relation to the Bill in the next parliamentary session as Lord Falconer has threatened.
Despite the polling including leading questions in favour of the Bill, 54% of the public polled thought the Bill should either not return or would have to pass both Houses again – whereas only 46% of those polled thought the Bill should bypass the House of Lords.
The polling showed that majorities do not support the bypassing of the House of Lords among both men and women, and among voters of every major political party.
The polling also showed that those who strongly support legalising assisted suicide remains low at just 28% of the public, a drop compared to the 32% of those polled who strongly supported legalising assisted suicide in November 2024.
The release of the polling follows ongoing campaigning from assisted suicide lobby group, Dignity in Dying, to build support for using the Parliament Acts to bring back Kim Leadbeater’s assisted suicide Bill in the next parliamentary session and then use the Parliament Acts to bypass the House of Lords.
Taking the unprecedented route of using the Parliament Acts to bypass House of Lords scrutiny of a Private Members’ Bill would be politically explosive and divisive, setting a precedent that may worry many MPs. It would be the first time ever that the Parliament Acts would be used for a Private Members’ Bill – and this recent polling confirms that taking this approach is not supported by the public.
This poll follows earlier polling, which found that 70% of the public who expressed a view believe Peers should be able to vote against a Private Members’ Bill, like the assisted suicide Bill, if they believe it would harm vulnerable people.
The House of Lords Constitution Committee and Hansard Society have both confirmed that Peers are constitutionally free to reject the Bill. As the Bill is not a Government Bill and was not in any party election manifesto, there is no convention requiring the Lords to pass it.
Collapse of assisted suicide Bill welcomed by politicians and commentators
Former Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, said that this announcement was “Very good news”, a sentiment that was echoed by the columnist and broadcaster Sonia Sodha.
Scottish Conservative MP John Lamont welcomed the announcement, saying that the Bill “was not properly considered and lacked support from the Royal Colleges and organisations representing disabled people”. He added that support should be given to improve palliative care instead.
Conservative Life Peer Toby Young said he was “relieved” that the Government has “pulled the plug” on the assisted suicide Bill. Writing for The Telegraph, Young added that, in the House of Lords, “the only way to win is by reaching out across the floor and forming alliances. [Lord] Falconer is more of a demolition expert than a bridge builder”.
Alisdair Hungerford-Morgan, CEO of the charity Right To Life UK, which campaigns against assisted suicide and in support of better access to palliative care, said:
“The assisted suicide Bill is now dead in this parliamentary session and mortally wounded beyond. Despite spin from the pro-assisted suicide lobby, the Bill is not failing because of a determined filibuster by a select few. This is a misleading and dishonest myth. Rather, it is failing because it is a badly drafted piece of legislation and, after appropriate and necessary scrutiny, Peers have rightly determined that the Bill would not be safe or workable”.
“Using the Parliament Acts to bypass House of Lords scrutiny of a Private Members’ Bill would be unprecedented and wholly inappropriate. The Parliament Acts have never been used to force through a Private Members’ Bill before.”
“Any talk of using the Parliament Acts to force this Bill into law must now be put to rest. Parliament now has the opportunity to drop this divisive and flawed Bill for good, and instead to come together to work collectively to ensure better quality palliative and end-of-life care is available for all.”
