Pass assisted dying bill or it will come back again and again, warns MP

The MP who is bringing back the assisted dying bill has told Sky News it could come back again and again if peers refuse to pass it for a second time.

Labour MP Lauren Edwards is sponsoring the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill after coming second in a ballot of backbench MPs wanting to introduce their own draft laws.

The bill would give people in England and Wales who are over 18, terminally ill, and in the final six months of their life, the ability to request assistance from a doctor to die.

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It will next be debated and voted on by MPs on 11 September.

Speaking to Sky News, Ms Edwards said she was reintroducing it because the "conversation on the bill was interrupted. All we want is for that conversation to continue and conclude."

The Rochester and Strood MP also told Sky News she had had "early conversations" with Andy Burnham's team over the bill.

Mr Burnham - who is expected to become prime minister on 20 July - has previously said he was supportive of the principle of the bill, but that hospices need to be "properly funded and sorted out" before an assisted dying law was passed.

Ms Edwards said she wouldn't expect the government's position of neutrality on the principle of assisted dying to change under a new prime minister.

On the progress of the bill, she said her aim was for MPs to send it "back to the Lords as soon as possible" to give them "as much time as possible" to continue their scrutiny.

The preferred option of Ms Edwards was that peers "finish their work on the bill" and send it back to the Commons to agree any changes they want to make to it.

The bill ran out of time to pass during the last parliamentary session, with peers only debating half of the amendments proposed.

Supporters accused critical peers of purposefully running down the clock - but they fiercely deny this and insist they are just trying to improve what they think is a poorly designed piece of legislation.

Many supporters were angry at what they said was the "undemocratic" blocking of the bill by peers, since it had been passed by elected MPs.

Ms Edwards was clear that the Parliament Act is there "as a backstop".

The Parliament Act says that the same bill, passed twice passed by MPs but rejected by peers in two consecutive sessions, becomes law anyway.

It's rarely used, only twice this century. Never before has it been used for a private members' bill - although officials have confirmed it could, in theory.

Ms Edwards told Sky News her "understanding is the Parliament Act could be used again next session as well, so my message to MPs and peers is: let's get this dealt with".

The bill is controversial, and some MPs are known to be unhappy with the bill as it stands, and think it doesn't contain enough safeguards for vulnerable people.

Critics are concerned about people feeling like a burden or being coerced into seeking an assisted death.

Ms Edwards, however, insists the bill is safe.

In order for the Parliament Act to apply, the bill can't be changed in the Commons, with any amendments having to be handled in the Lords.

More on assisted dying:
MP urges peers 'not to block' assisted dying bill
How the assisted dying bill could still become law

Matthew England, researcher at the independent parliamentary charity the Hansard Society, told Sky News: "Supposing that the Commons passes an amended version of the assisted dying bill this [parliamentary] session, and the Lords again fails to pass it, the Parliament Act can't be used this session because the two bills would not be identical."

But that amended bill could be reintroduced by an MP who comes high up enough in the next backbench ballot.

"If the Commons passes a version of the bill in the next session which is identical to the version this session, the Parliament Act can apply if the Lords fails to pass that version again," Mr England said.

'Finish the process'

Ms Edwards said that "now is the time to finish this process rather than risk it coming back again and again".

She added that her "hope is the Parliament Act is only there as a deterrent to prevent peers running down the clock" on the bill again.

While she said a "minority of peers talked out the bill", she said she wanted to work with peers who put down "good faith amendments".

The bill's sponsors accept that some changes could be made to it, with its sponsor in the Lords, Charlie Falconer, agreeing to back almost 80.

But critics hit out at the suggestion the bill could keep coming back until it was passed.

A source close to Labour MPs opposed to the bill said that supporters "are so obsessed with this unsafe bill they seem to be prepared to twist this entire parliament out of shape".

They continued: "Most MPs wish they would commit this much time and energy to fixing their deeply flawed bill or sorting palliative care provision so everyone has the care they need at the end of life."

Assisted dying is set to be legalised in Jersey next week, making it the first place in the British Isles where assisted dying is legal.

That bill officially became law on Thursday and will come into force when it is registered at Jersey's royal court "in the coming days".

Assisted dying services are set to begin operating on the island late next year.

(c) Sky News 2026: Pass assisted dying bill or it will come back again and again, warns MP