SCRUTINY of proposed laws on assisted dying will proceed within 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 within the Lords, Lord Kennedy, said that, since greater than 1000 amendments had been tabled, and only a fraction of them had been debated thus far, it was “clear” that more time was needed for scrutiny of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill.
Initially, 4 days of debate, across November and December, were scheduled within the Lords, after the conclusion of Select Committee hearings on the proposed laws.
During the 2 days of debate in November, the Bishop of London, the Rt Revd Sarah Mullally, was the one serving bishop called to talk, although several others had registered their interest in contributing.
“We have to remind ourselves that one and all is of immeasurable value, and can’t be diminished by illness, disability, or care costs,” she told the Lords last Friday (News, 21 November).
An extra ten sessions have been added, on Fridays, from January to April. With the 2 days of debate already scheduled on 5 and 12 December, there are actually 12 sessions for further scrutiny.
Lord Kennedy reiterated that the Government is “neutral” on the laws, and that it might be as much as members tips on how to make use of the overtime.
The Bill’s proposer within the Lords, Lord Falconer, said that he was grateful for the overtime allotted for debate, and suggested that opponents and supporters of the Bill “get together and agree one of the best solution to use the remaining 12 days that we now have on it”.
The proposer within 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 mandatory”, BBC News reported.
Ms Leadbeater, Labour MP for Spen Valley, was reported last week as saying that some peers were attempting to “frustrate” the passage of the Bill, which was passed by the Commons in June (News, 20 June).
