RESPONDING to the news that a Bill to permit assisted dying is to be reintroduced to Parliament, the Bishop of Newcastle, Dr Helen-Ann Hartley, has told the Church Times that she remains committed to scrutinising the legislation in the House of Lords — although MPs may use the Parliament Act to bypass the Upper House.

“The issues around workability and safety remain, as do the issues around the funding of palliative and social care,” she said.

The Bishop was speaking after the Labour MP for Rochester and Strood, Lauren Edwards, announced that she would use another Private Member’s Bill to reintroduce the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill into the House of Commons.

Dr Hartley said: “The role of the House of Lords remains — to scrutinise and improve legislation sent to it by the House of Commons. That is the work I and other colleagues remain committed to as we await the detail of this new Bill.”

The Bishop was on the Lords select committee that examined the Private Member’s Bill brought by the Labour MP Kim Leadbeater in October 2024 (News, 18 October 2024). She spoke against the Bill before it ran out of time in the Upper House, nearly 17 months after MPs first voted for it in principle, following an unprecedented number of suggested amendments addressing concerns over risks to vulnerable people (News, 1 May).

Powers under the Parliament Act — which have only been used seven times in the past 100 years — allow MPs to override the House of Lords if they pass an identical bill in two consecutive parliamentary sessions, meaning that peers cannot block it a second time.

Dr Hartley last week anticipated the reintroduction of the Bill, saying: “This would mean using a procedure never used for a Bill of this kind and acting against the advice of medical professionals, disability groups, and the concerns of all those who want to see legislation that is safe and workable.”

Last week, Dr Hartley welcomed a poll of more than 10,000 people which suggested that a majority in all 632 parliamentary constituencies oppose the proposed law on assisted dying being revisited without full scrutiny and approval by both chambers. She told the Church Times then that the poll confirmed that the public did not support the suggestion of bypassing the House of Lords “in order to force through an unsafe Bill” (News, 10 June).

The MRP poll also found that legalising assisted dying did not rank among the top five priorities in any constituency — and that, in every constituency, the majority of voters agreed that Parliament should prioritise other concerns before considering whether to introduce assisted dying.

Ms Edwards announced on social media on Sunday night that she would bring an identical bill to the Leadbeater Bill passed by the House of Commons last year.

The Bill proposes — subject to certain safeguards, including agreement from a panel of experts — to allow people over the age of 18 who are expected to die within six months to be given assistance to end their own life.

Ms Edwards, who came second in a ballot for Private Member’s Bills, said in her statement that she had given the matter “a great deal of thought”. She continued: “We owe it to all those terminally ill people and their families who are depending on this Bill to ensure that parliament can come to a final decision on the question of choice at the end of life.

“And I believe it undermines public trust in our democracy more widely if we cannot deliver on a measure that is supported by a very large majority of voters in all parts of the country.”

She told the BBC that she was “playing by the rules”.

“Laws passed in the House of Commons are then refined by the House of Lords but they don’t have the opportunity to block them. It’s perfectly reasonable for us to ask the House of Lords to finish the job.”

Sir Keir Starmer, who is the UK’s first explicitly atheist prime minister, supports assisted dying and voted in favour of the Bill last year.

Wes Streeting, the former health secretary and an Anglican, who is considered to be a likely future candidate for the Labour leadership, is opposed to it.

As an MP in 2015, Andy Burnham — who is also seen as a potential candidate to replace Sir Keir Starmer, and was raised as a Roman Catholic — abstained in a Commons vote on the issue. But he told BBC Radio Manchester in 2024 that he had since had family experience that had changed his mind, and that he would “probably” vote in favour.