Assisted dying: Bishop to tell peers of ‘grave fears’ in first Lords debate

A bishop and peer has said she will repeat her “deep concerns” and “grave fears” about the assisted dying Bill as it is debated for the first time in the House of Lords.

The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill returns to Parliament on Friday – to be pored over by peers in the unelected chamber.

This is the furthest assisted dying legislation has progressed through the Westminster Parliament to date and it is expected a record number of members could speak at this Second Reading stage.

Some 190 peers have put their names down to have their say, and if all do speak across the two-day debate this Friday and on September 19, this number would surpass the previous record of 187 speakers for the EU Withdrawal Bill’s Second Reading in 2018.

Among those expected to take part in the debate is Church of England bishop Dame Sarah Mullally.

The Bishop of London, a former nurse who is the Church’s lead bishop on health and social care, has already indicated she feels the Bill as it stands must be opposed.

Speaking in the wake of the Bill passing a vote in the House of Commons in June, she said peers “must oppose a law that puts the vulnerable at risk and instead work to improve funding and access to desperately needed palliative care services”.

In a statement on Thursday to the PA news agency, a day ahead of the Bill coming to the Lords, she repeated her view that improving end-of-life care must be the focus, rather than helping people to die.

Dame Sarah said: “I have repeatedly expressed deep concerns about this Bill, outlining my grave fears regarding its potential to disproportionately impact the most vulnerable in our society.

“At General Synod (the Church of England’s parliament), I supported a motion on the most crucial issue that needs addressing: the urgent need to strengthen palliative care provision and give access and support to the many who currently lack it at the end of life.

“I will reiterate these points in the House of Lords on Friday.”

While the Lords is seen mainly as a revising chamber, carefully undertaking line-by-line scrutiny of draft laws which have already had approval in the Commons, peers can tell MPs to “think again” when they feel it necessary.

Supporters of assisted dying, including Childline founder Dame Esther Rantzen – who is terminally ill – have appealed to peers not to block the legislation.

While Bills are generally not put to a vote at Second Reading stage in the Lords, peers can call for this, meaning they could choose to vote against the proposed legislation at the end of debate on Friday September 19.

But former lord chancellor and justice secretary Lord Charlie Falconer, who is the sponsor of the Bill in the Lords, has voiced his confidence that it will pass.

On the chances of peers using parliamentary procedure to block the Bill, he told PA: “I’ve heard rumours of procedural devices being used but I don’t think that will happen.

“I think the House will roll up its sleeves and get on with what it does best – scrutinising Bills and seeing if they can be improved.”

In a statement ahead of Friday’s debate, he said there is “more than enough time for the Lords to scrutinise the Bill and return it to the Commons before the end of the parliamentary session”.

He added that he and Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, who introduced the Bill in the Commons last year, “will be very open” to considering any suggestions peers have for ways the Bill can be “further strengthened and improved”.

Supporters and backers of the Bill have described it as one of the safest in the world, requiring someone’s application for an assisted death to be approved by two doctors and an expert panel.

The legislation, which would be open only to adults with a terminal diagnosis of less than six months to live, would apply across England and Wales if approved.

But opponents say it lacks adequate safeguards including on potential coercion of vulnerable people.