Labour MPs have called for the Assisted Dying Bill to be allowed to progress without delay as it returns to the House of Commons, arguing that the elected chamber’s decision should ultimately be respected.
John Slinger, Labour MP for Rugby, has publicly backed fellow Labour MP Lauren Edwards as she takes the legislation through the Commons again following its consideration in the House of Lords.
In a statement on social media, Slinger said:
“I back Lauren Edwards MP as she takes the Assisted Dying Bill through the Commons again. The Lords can scrutinise and revise, that is their job, but they must not veto the will of the elected Commons. The public support this Bill. No delay.”
His intervention follows a statement from Edwards, the Labour MP for Rochester and Strood, setting out her case for assisted dying legislation alongside improvements to social, palliative and hospice care.
Edwards welcomed Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s commitment to tackling problems within social care and argued that reform of care services and giving terminally ill people greater choice should not be seen as competing objectives.
She said:
“We all want to see better social, palliative and hospice care in every part of the country.”
Edwards said the Government had already made improving palliative care provision a priority and welcomed Burnham’s intention to go further.
She argued that international evidence showed improved palliative care could exist alongside assisted dying legislation for a small number of terminally ill people whose suffering could not be relieved even by the best available care.
Edwards added:
“Improving social and palliative care and offering choice in the last weeks of a dying person’s life can and must go hand in hand.”
The Labour MP pointed to the extensive parliamentary debate that has already taken place on assisted dying, including a 14-month inquiry by the Health and Social Care Select Committee.
She also stressed that the legislation provides for a lengthy implementation period rather than an immediate introduction of assisted dying.
“The bill that has been before parliament and thoroughly debated since October 2024 provides for a four-year implementation period,” Edwards said.
She argued that this would give the Government and health and social care services time to improve existing provision alongside preparations for any new assisted dying framework.
Edwards also strongly welcomed Burnham’s focus on reforming social care, saying successive governments had failed to resolve longstanding problems.
“Andy Burnham’s commitment to tackling the crisis in social care is extremely welcome. He’s absolutely right to say that the care we offer people must be person-centred and integrated with the wider health system.”
She added that the status quo had “let people down for too long” and echoed the Prime Minister’s warning that “the risks of failing to act are too great”.
The assisted dying debate has generated strongly held views across Parliament, including within the Labour Party, and has generally been treated as a matter of conscience rather than one determined by the party whip.
Slinger’s intervention puts renewed focus on the constitutional question of how the Lords handles legislation that has already secured the backing of elected MPs. While acknowledging the Lords’ role in scrutinising and revising legislation, he argued that peers should not ultimately prevent the Commons from implementing its decision.
With the Bill returning to MPs, the debate is now set to focus both on the detail of any changes made during parliamentary scrutiny and on whether the legislation can complete its passage without further significant delay.
