Esther Rantzen joins critics as assisted dying bill on verge of collapse

The attempt to legalise assisted dying for terminally ill people looks likely to fail this session after peers laid down so many amendments that the bill is unlikely to clear the House of Lords before Parliament rises in May, a setback decried by supporters including esther rantzen.

Bill stalled in the Lords with days to spare

The bill, proposed by backbench MP Kim Leadbeater and backed by a majority in the House of Commons, did not have government sponsorship. No 10 allowed a free vote of MPs so they could follow their conscience and the measure was not whipped. Once in the House of Lords, a small number of opponents laid down so many amendments that it will not be voted on in time to make it through the current parliamentary session, which ends in May, and there are less than six days left for debate.

Roy Kennedy, the Labour whip in the House of Lords, told a parliamentary committee that the government would not give the bill any more time, citing only a limited number of sitting Fridays left. The government could have extended the parliamentary session but that would have been an extraordinary move.

Nuclear option: invoking the 1911 Parliament Act

Backers say they will try again in the new parliamentary session with another backbench bill. Leadbeater and Charles Falconer have taken advice on forcing the bill through next time using an archaic parliamentary procedure if peers continue to block it. The high-stakes move – described by some backers as the "nuclear option" – would be the first time the 1911 Parliament Act has been invoked for a private member’s bill.

Supporters say they have extensive legal and constitutional advice that proves they can force peers to vote on the bill, unamended, in the next session. After the session ends, a bill must be reintroduced and passed again in the new session to trigger the act’s override mechanism, and it must be exactly the same version of the bill as passed by the Commons.

There are two ways to invoke the Parliament Act: by a supporter adopting it at the next private member’s bill ballot or for the government to give the bill time to return to the Commons.

Arguments from both sides and past uses of the act

Opponents in the Lords have felt emboldened to frustrate passage because the bill was not sponsored by the government and was not part of the Labour party manifesto with a mandate from the electorate. Supporters say it is undemocratic for peers to in effect block legislation, arguing that MPs should have primacy over peers. Opponents counter that the Commons did not sufficiently scrutinise the legislation and that they are doing their job by holding it to account.

Since its revision in 1949, the Parliament Act has been used for only a handful of bills to enact laws that did not have the consent of the Lords, including decriminalising homosexuality and banning foxhunting.

Esther Rantzen speaks out

Dame Esther Rantzen accused some peers of "blatant sabotage". Speaking to Sky News on Thursday, unclear in the provided context

Gorton and Denton by-election count opens in Manchester

Separately, voting has finished in the Gorton and Denton by-election and the first ballot boxes have arrived at the count centre in central Manchester. Manchester City Council said no concerns were reported to it while polls were open.

A spokesperson for the acting returning officer said: "Polling station staff are trained to look out for any evidence of undue influence on voters. No such issues have been reported today. If Democracy Volunteers were so concerned about alleged issues, they could and should have raised them with us during polling hours so that immediate action could be taken. We have operated a central by-election hub which has been rapidly responding to reported issues during the day, in liaison with the police - who had a presence at every polling station - where necessary. It is extremely disappointing that Democracy Volunteers have waited until after polls have closed to make such claims. "

The Democracy Volunteers organisation said it had observed a "record number" of instances of family voting taking place. Family voting was described as where two voters either confer, collude or direct each other on voting, which is illegal under the Ballot Secrecy Act 2023.

Council staff will shortly begin counting votes, but it will still be hours before it is known who has won.

In Levenshulme, at the Station South Cycle Café, movie aficionados were enjoying a German film evening while, outside in the rain, Labour and Green Party canvassers campaigned frantically in the final hours of voting in the Gorton and Denton by-election. Before the film show began, customers thought the Greens were on course for victory.

In Gorton, Green Party posters heavily outnumbered Labour’s and there were barely any for Reform UK. By contrast in Denton, Nigel Farage's party had high hopes of performing strongly. One by-election veteran said that for Reform UK to win the by-election they would need to take 60% of the vote in Denton.

The campaign has attracted complaints about dodgy and misleading campaign leaflets, abuse of postal votes and family members being told who to vote for.

The next confirmed event is the continuation of counting in central Manchester and the reintroduction of the assisted dying bill, if backers pursue the next-session route outlined above.