Parliament must finish what it’s started: the fight for assisted dying comes back to the Commons as debate announced for 8 June

On 8 June, just weeks into the new parliamentary session, and almost a year since MPs voted to give terminally ill people choice as they die, the House of Commons will hold its first debate on assisted dying since a minority of unelected Lords ran down the clock on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill.

A Westminster Hall debate has been secured after more than 100,000 people signed a parliamentary petition in just over a month, demanding Parliament finishes what it started, as MPs, Peers and campaigners unite behind the Bill’s return. The debate comes at a critical moment, with expectations high that the Bill will be brought back following the PMB ballot, backed by 150 MPs who have written to the Prime Minister urging guaranteed time for debate.

The petition was tabled by terminally ill campaigner Sophie Blake in honour of Nathaniel Dye a 40-year-old music teacher who died of terminal bowel cancer earlier this year after devoting many of his final months to fighting for law change. It calls for action to ensure that Bills backed by MPs and the public can complete all their stages in Parliament.

Sarah Wootton, Chief Executive of Dignity in Dying said: 

“MPs made a promise to dying people and the public when they passed the Assisted Dying Bill last year – they voted for compassion. A handful of unelected Lords tried to break that promise by deliberately obstructing the will of our elected chamber. That is not democracy. Parliament has unfinished business, and MPs of all parties are united in their determination to see this Bill through. On 8 June the public will make clear they expect MPs to finish it.”

The Bill passed the House of Commons last June with majority support following more than 100 hours of scrutiny. It was then subjected to an unprecedented 1,200 amendments in the House of Lords, the majority tabled by a small number of Peers opposed in principle to assisted dying reform a deliberate attempt to exhaust the parliamentary timetable and deny the House any opportunity to vote on amendments, the Bill as a whole, or to return it to the Commons for final approval. Two hundred Lords wrote to MPs on the day of the final debate making clear this was obstruction, not rejection, urging the Commons to ensure the Bill completes its passage in the next session. 

Sophie Blake, who is living with incurable secondary breast cancer: 

“I tabled this petition for Nathaniel, my dear friend who died aged just forty from terminal bowel cancer, and who deserved a choice he never had. Nathaniel’s death, and the deliberate obstruction that preceded it, is exactly what is at stake: when unelected Lords waste time, it is dying people who pay the price. I didn’t expect well over 100,000 people to sign it in a matter of weeks, but I wasn’t surprised either. Behind every dying person like me is a nation believing in choice; a nation determined to see this Bill through. This debate is a chance for MPs to hear directly from the public that they want this Bill back, and I know many MPs stand ready to do just that. I’m living with stage four cancer. I know what it means to want and need this law, not in theory, but in a deeply real, personal way. This is about life and death, but it’s also about democracy. I’m proud of everyone who signed, and I know this is another step towards the change that is coming in the next parliamentary session.”

*ENDS*

For more information/requests, please email Tom Steen, Media and Campaigns Officer at tom.steen@dignityindying.org.uk or 07356135578