Left to right – Wikimedia Commons: Official portrait of Kim Leadbeater MP crop 2, 2024, Official portrait of Lucy Powell
The House of Commons has been asked to delay a vote on MP Kim Leadbeater’s assisted suicide bill in an intervention by over 50 Labour MPs stating: “The private member’s bill process has shown itself to be a woefully inadequate vehicle for the introduction of such a foundational change to our NHS and the relationship between doctor and patient.”
Over 50 Labour MPs wrote to Leader of the House Lucy Powell asking her to postpone a decisive vote on the Leadbeater Bill set for this Friday, 20 June.
The MPs said that further scrutiny is required for an assisted suicide law which would “fundamentally change” healthcare, and that inadequate time had been given to consider amendments.
The letter said: “On Friday, Members will debate and vote on perhaps the most consequential piece of legislation that has appeared before the House in generations.
“This is not a normal Bill. It alters the foundations of our NHS, the relationship between doctor and patient, and it strips power away from Parliament, concentrating it in the hands of future Health Secretaries.
“MPs will be arriving at Westminster on Friday morning without sight of the final version of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill.”
The group of Labour MPs also slammed the process of the Bill, stating that they “had the opportunity to vote on just 12 of 133 amendments tabled at Report Stage.
“Just fourteen per cent of MPs have been afforded the opportunity to speak in the chamber on this Bill Several movers of amendments haven’t been able to speak to the changes they have laid.”
The letter concluded by stating that “this is no longer about debating the abstract principle of assisted dying. The Bill before Parliament has created real concern with medical experts and charities. MPs and the Government should listen to their expertise.
“We implore you as the Leader of the House to allocate more Parliamentary time to the scrutiny of this Bill, the valid concerns that Members have about its implementation, and the consequences it could have on vulnerable populations.”
Ms Leadbeater’s Bill seeks to legalise assisted suicide in England and Wales for terminally ill adults given less than six months to live.
Last Friday, MPs debated the Bill for five hours ahead of this week’s vote. Concerns have increasingly been raised about the lack of safeguards in the Bill and other potential negative consequences.
MPs from various parties have also turned against Ms Leadbeater’s Bill in recent months after concluding that their concerns were not properly addressed at Report Stage or at Third Reading.
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