SCRUTINY of proposed legislation on assisted dying will continue in the House of Lords until the spring. Ten extra days of debate have been confirmed.
In an announcement on Wednesday afternoon, the Government’s chief whip in the Lords, Lord Kennedy, said that, since more than 1000 amendments had been tabled, and only a fraction of them had been debated so far, it was “clear” that more time was needed for scrutiny of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill.
Initially, four days of debate, across November and December, were scheduled in the Lords, after the conclusion of Select Committee hearings on the proposed legislation.
During the two days of debate in November, the Bishop of London, the Rt Revd Sarah Mullally, was the only serving bishop called to speak, although several others had registered their interest in contributing.
“We need to remind ourselves that every person is of immeasurable value, and cannot be diminished by illness, disability, or care costs,” she told the Lords last Friday (News, 21 November).
A further ten sessions have been added, on Fridays, from January to April. With the two days of debate already scheduled on 5 and 12 December, there are now 12 sessions for further scrutiny.
Lord Kennedy reiterated that the Government is “neutral” on the legislation, and that it would be up to members how to make use of the extra time.
The Bill’s proposer in the Lords, Lord Falconer, said that he was grateful for the extra time allotted for debate, and suggested that opponents and supporters of the Bill “get together and agree the best way to use the remaining 12 days that we have on it”.
The proposer in the House of Commons, Kim Leadbeater MP, said that it was “right that peers use their expertise and experience to properly scrutinise the Bill and propose improvements to strengthen it where necessary”, BBC News reported.
Ms Leadbeater, Labour MP for Spen Valley, was reported last week as saying that some peers were trying to “frustrate” the passage of the Bill, which was passed by the Commons in June (News, 20 June).