Labour MP to Reintroduce Assisted Dying Bill After Lords Blocked Prior Version Over Flaws

Labour MP Lauren Edwards announced she will introduce an identical Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill to the version the Commons passed last year. The bill would allow adults over 18 who are expected to die within six months to receive help to end their own life, subject to safeguards.

Edwards told the BBC she wanted to "finish the job" and was "playing by the rules" by asking the House of Lords to do the same.

The previous bill, introduced by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, failed to clear the Lords in April after peers tabled an unprecedented number of amendments that exhausted the available time. Opponents had argued the measure contained substantial flaws that risked pressuring vulnerable people into ending their lives early.

By reintroducing the exact text, Edwards is positioning the measure to trigger the Parliament Act, which has been used only seven times in the last century.

Under the Act, if MPs pass an identical bill in two consecutive parliamentary sessions, the Lords cannot block it a second time. The government maintained official neutrality on the legislation, though several cabinet ministers, including then health secretary Wes Streeting, voiced opposition.

Sir Keir Starmer voted in favour and, before the general election, promised broadcaster Dame Esther Rantzen to provide parliamentary time for a debate and vote.

Some MPs have questioned whether Andy Burnham would maintain the same stance if he replaced Starmer as prime minister. Burnham abstained on a 2015 attempt to legalise assisted dying, but told BBC Radio Manchester in 2024 that family experience had changed his mind and he would "probably vote in favour" of the principle.