More than 100 Labour MPs call on PM to stop assisted dying bill being blocked | Assisted dying

More than 100 Labor MPs have called on Keir Starmer to stop the House of Lords blocking the assisted dying bill and give it more time to return to the Commons, with the bill now doomed to fail due to lack of time.

The private member’s bill, sponsored by Labour’s Kim Leadbeater, aims to give terminally ill people in England and Wales with less than six months to live the right to an assisted death. It will fall at the end of the parliamentary session in May, as peers resorted to multiple amendments and lengthy debates to prevent its vote.

A number of ministerial aides – parliamentary private secretaries – are also said to have written separately to the Prime Minister. Ministers told the Guardian they had also made their case to Starmer, saying it would be an opportunity to show some leadership on an issue popular with the public as well as a way to demonstrate he would not allow the Lords to block the will of the elected House of Commons.

Opponents of the bill, who have submitted more than 1,200 amendments, say it is not a filibuster and is unfit for purpose. In a private letter to Starmer, Labor MPs wrote that he should ensure the bill returns to the Commons in the next session after the King’s Speech.

If it passes the Commons again, it would mean its supporters could use the Parliament Act to circumvent any further blockage from the Lords. This would be the first time that the Parliament Act 1911 would be invoked for a private member’s bill.

The letter said Starmer would not need to sacrifice the government’s neutrality on the issue itself and asserted that it was a fundamental democratic principle that the Lords should not block the will of the Commons. The bill was adopted by deputies in June last year by a majority of 23 votes.

To use the Act on Parliament, supporters would either have to win the vote for a new private member’s bill, or Starmer could agree to give the government time to allow the bill to be voted on again in the Commons.

The Lords had more than 100 hours of debate, but only half of the amendments were taken up after 11 days. The bill has just three days left before the end of the session, where it will have to complete report stage and third reading, as well as amendments returned from the Commons. Supporters of the bill said this was “effectively impossible.”

Starmer is also understood to have received letters asking him to spend time on the bill from Conservative, Liberal Democrat, Green, Plaid Cymru and Reform MPs, bringing the total number to around 150.

They argue that only a small number of peers opposed to the bill have filed the vast majority of amendments, which are being debated at a glacial pace.

Lord Falconer, the bill’s sponsor in the second house, said there was “absolutely no hope” of it being written into law this session without a “fundamental change” in the tactics employed by its opponents.

The letter was coordinated by Peter Prinsley, consultant physician and MP for Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket. “A small number of peers have used procedural tactics to block the Bill in the House of Lords and it now appears very likely that they will prevent its return to the Commons before the end of this session,” he wrote in the covering letter to the Prime Minister.

“While we fully respect the government’s neutrality on the principle of medical assistance in dying, we are confident that you will agree with us that we cannot be neutral on the fundamental democratic principle that it is up to the elected House of Commons to decide this issue.

“Our voters, in all parts of the country, strongly support a change in the law and it is clear to us that the issue must be resolved as soon as possible. Our request is simple. Whether or not the bill returns to a vote on private members’ bills after the King’s Speech, Parliament will find time to make a decision in the next session. This would remain a matter of conscience for MPs, the neutrality of government would be maintained and there would be no need for it to take up time set aside for business governmental.”

MPs opposed to the bill said its return would reinforce its flaws. Labor MP Jess Asato said: “The sponsor of the bill rejected 99% of the improvements and amendments suggested in the House of Lords and so it still contains the same flaws and problems. We know this to be true because the experts, such as the Royal Colleges and professionals, have told the Lords so.

“Any MP who votes in favor of this bill would do so knowing that it is dangerous and would harm vulnerable people. »

Starmer, who is a supporter of assisted dying, has so far appeared reluctant to intervene to advance the bill. Liberal Democrat MP Vikki Slade said it would be “a travesty for democracy and, more importantly, a tragedy for everyone who relied on the legislation and waited so long, including my own father”.

Starmer said he would not interfere further in the parliamentary process. “It’s a question of conscience,” the Prime Minister said last week. “It is for Parliament to decide on the adoption of legislation and any changes. Oversight is a matter for the other place. We have a responsibility to ensure that any legislation is workable, effective and enforceable.”