Low turnout threatens Commons vote on assisted dying, say MPs

Backers seek support for second attempt to get law through House of Lords after ‘undemocratic’ rejection last year

MPs on both sides of the assisted dying debate have voiced fears about turnout affecting the vote on Friday, when the bill returns to the Commons for its second attempt to become law.

Those who back the change in the law in England and Wales have been emphasising the “undemocratic” nature of the bill’s rejection by the House of Lords after it was talked out by a handful of peers after passing the House of Commons . The bill fell despite multiple days of debate from peers because of the number of amendments tabled in the Lords.

Several former cabinet ministers and ministers say they intend to speak out on the bill now they are freer to express their views, especially on the conduct of the Lords.

The private member’s bill – originally sponsored by Kim Leadbeater – has been revived by the Labour MP Lauren Edwards . It had passed last year by a majority of 23 in the Commons.

In an article for the Guardian, Edwards said the bill was “the most pressing, progressive reform of this parliament. But it was blocked in the Lords earlier this year by a small minority of peers, led in part by former Tory ministers such as Thérèse Coffey and Mark Harper”. She said the Lords should not be “allowed to frustrate the will of the elected chamber a second time”.

Edwards said she rejected some accusations from Labour MPs that she was reopening divisions in the party at a moment when there was a chance to reunite it now that Andy Burnham had replaced Keir Starmer as prime minister.

“Exactly the reverse is true. MPs have already made their decision. In a democracy, we settle our differences by voting on them. Last time, opponents in the Lords prevented a vote taking place on the bill’s provisions,” Edwards said.

“Other major social changes such as a woman’s right to choose and gay rights were bitterly contested at the time. But once passed, the reforms were quickly accepted and ceased to be controversial.

“It is time to do the same and give terminally ill people the choice to exercise some control over the manner of their deaths. We owe it to them, and to the vast majority of voters who support them, not to sit back and allow a minority of unelected peers to stand in their way.”

Backers of the bill have stressed that MPs should see the vote as a moment to assert the Commons’ decision-making power, rather than rerun the arguments.

Two former cabinet ministers told the Guardian they now wanted to speak out on their reasons for supporting the bill.

The former Northern Ireland secretary Hilary Benn said he was motivated by the death of his first wife to want to relieve suffering of a loved one. “All of us who have experienced the loss of a loved one to a terminal illness – 47 years ago my first wife, Rosalind, died of adrenal cancer – know how hard it is.

“If someone who has only months to live is facing the prospect of unbearable pain – despite the best efforts of palliative care – how can we look them in the eye and say that we will not help them to bring their lives to an end in a way of their choosing surrounded by those they love and who love them?” he said.

He said that the House of Lords would have “huge responsibility to listen and to vote on the bill rather than repeat the procedural obstruction we saw last time. Those suffering at the end of their lives deserve nothing less.”

Jo Stevens, a former Welsh secretary, said: “I’ve always supported the principle of assisted dying. I have constituents and friends who desperately wanted one and a constituent who I helped after they were arrested for escorting someone who chose an assisted death at Dignitas.

“I and many other MPs, including MPs who didn’t support the bill, are furious at the outrageous behaviour of a small number of unelected peers who went against the will of the Commons. Many of these are former MPs who should know better, especially former ministers who were rejected by the electorate.”

However, several MPs said they believed it was the pro-side that was finding it hardest to convince MPs to stay and vote on Friday. “No one has changed sides, but the numbers are going to be tighter because people are absent,” one MP said.

Two MPs who voted in favour of the bill are no longer in parliament: Starmer, who quit as an MP last week and is yet to be replaced; and the former Makerfield MP Josh Simons, who was replaced by Burnham, who has said he will abstain.

Other high-profile supporters of the bill, including the cabinet minister Louise Haigh, minister Ian Murray and former chancellor Jeremy Hunt, have written to constituents previously saying they were uneasy about using the Parliament Act to pass the law. The act would come into force, within certain conditions, if the Lordswere to reject the bill a second time.