MPs have hit out at a bid to 'railroad' an assisted dying law through Parliament ahead of the controversial legislation returning to the House of Commons this week.The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is due to have its Second Reading in the Commons on Friday after being reintroduced by Labour's Lauren Edwards.This is despite its failure in the last parliamentary session when, although it passed two votes in the Commons, it fell in the House of Lords.Peers ran out of time to conclude their debate on the Bill, amid accusations of 'filibustering' by opponents of the legislation, before the last parliamentary session ended in April.Ms Edwards has now reintroduced the Bill as supporters of assisted dying mount another attempt to pass it into law.There have also been suggestions they could use the Parliament Acts to force it through the Lords this time round.The Bill aims to allow terminally ill adults in England and Wales with fewer than six months to live to apply for an assisted death.But Labour MP Ashley Dalton, an opponent of the legislation who has terminal cancer, branded the legislation 'unsafe and unworkable'. The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is due to have its Second Reading in the Commons on Friday after being reintroduced by Labour's Lauren Edwards.'I know how it feels to look at your options,' she wrote in a series of social media posts.'Once the option for assisted dying exists, some people may feel - or be - coerced into taking it, or do so out of fear of being a burden on their family or the NHS.'If this Bill is passed, vulnerable people will be at risk.'Ms Dalton claimed that supporters of the Bill 'know the Bill is flawed but are carrying on pushing a bad law'.'The sponsors have reintroduced the Bill with no further amendments, so they can force the Bill through the Parliament Act rather than fix its flaws,' she added.Fellow Labour MP Jess Asato, another opponent of the Bill, hit back at claims by Ms Edwards that a 'small minority' of peers had blocked the legislation in the last parliamentary session.She posted: 'Supporters now seem keen on railroading through the assisted dying Bill because they argue it was filibustered in the House of Lords by a small group of opponents. The only problem is, that isn’t true. 'Over 60 peers laid amendments to the Bill. Over 90 peers signed those amendments. Over 140 peers spoke in the debate – with an average length of under five minutes per amendment.'The sponsor of the Bill in the Lords, meanwhile, rejected 99 per cent of amendments – including those suggested by medical and legal organisations.'Many MPs approved the assisted dying Bill on the condition that the Lords would carry out its function: detailed scrutiny. They weren’t allowed to do so.' Ms Asato warned her fellow MPs against allowing the Bill to pass through the Commons unamended, which would leave open the option of using the Parliament Acts to bypass the Lords.'Are colleagues really content to let this legislation pass through Commons stages without a chance to make it safer?' she added. 'This is poor law-making - and it is vulnerable people who will pay the price.'In an article for The Guardian, Ms Edwards claimed that assisted dying had been 'supported by a substantial majority in the country for a very long time'.'Having examined the issue with great care, MPs decided in the last session to support the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill,' she added.'On the Labour benches there was a clear majority in favour, as there was on the Lib Dems’. The Greens supported it unanimously.'It is the most pressing, progressive reform of this Parliament. But it was blocked in the Lords earlier this year by a small minority of peers.'She continued: 'On Friday, I will be asking MPs to send the bill back to the Lords. 'There they can amend the Bill if they choose, just like any legislation, and if the Commons agrees, that’s fine.'But they should not be allowed to frustrate the will of the elected chamber a second time.'The previous Bill passed its Third Reading in the Commons in June last year by a majority of 23 votes.But two of those MPs who supported the Bill - former prime minister Keir Starmer and former Makerfield MP Josh Simons - have since left Parliament.Meanwhile, other MPs who previously supported the Bill have said they will not back using the Parliament Acts to force through the legislation.Andy Burnham, who replaced Sir Keir as PM in July, has signalled he is opposed to the efforts to revive the Bill.He has argued there is a more immediate need to fix palliative care and social care.Mr Burnham told reporters shortly after becoming PM: 'I take the view that that debate – and I don't say that there shouldn't be a debate at some point about those issues – personally, I think there's something that needs to happen first.'That is the fixing of the funding of palliative care and social care. I think it is very challenging to introduce that wider debate in a context of people not receiving that care and having the peace of mind about that care.'That's the way I kind of see this, and that's the position that I will stick to.'
MPs hit out at bid to 'railroad' assisted dying law through Parliament
The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is due to have its Second Reading in the Commons on Friday after being reintroduced by Labour's Lauren Edwards.















