Pro-assisted suicide MPs and Peers fear Leadbeater Bill may fall

Supporters of Kim Leadbeater MP’s assisted suicide Bill are fearful that the proposals may fail due to lack of time.

According to The Guardian, MPs are in a “blind fury” that over a thousand amendments have been tabled by the House of Lords. If the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill has not been passed when the parliamentary session ends in May, it cannot become law.

Government whips recently confirmed that they would seek to extend the length of the Bill’s weekly debates, but would not give up normal Government time on other days to make room for it.

‘Reckless accusations’

Opponents of the Bill rejected the accusations they were using ‘dirty tricks’ to deliberately delay the Bill, noting that the Bill’s supporters were spreading false narratives around normal parliamentary process. Instead they highlighted the need for proper scrutiny on a dangerous Bill with such far-reaching implications.

Florence Eshalomi MP stated: “Not a single royal college, professional body or cabinet minister will attest to the safety of this bill.

“Scrutiny should never be conflated with obstruction and it would be reckless for Lords to ignore the concerns of such a wide range of experts.”

‘A bad Bill’

Deputy Director of The Christian Institute Simon Calvert commented: “There’s a long, hard slog ahead in the House of Lords if we are going to defeat the Leadbeater assisted suicide Bill.

“And much more important than whether or not the Bill just runs out of time is whether or not we win the argument, whether we win the argument that this is a bad Bill, badly drafted, that will expose vulnerable people to harm.”

He continued: “And whether we win the broader argument that the principle of assisted suicide is wrong, that’s what’s at stake. And we should be grateful that there are so many peers prepared to write and table amendments and speak to and debate those amendments.

“And the fact is, the more the House of Lords scrutinizes this bill, the more obvious it is to everybody that it’s a bad idea.”