Lords sees attempts to delay assisted dying Bill

PARLIAMENT would still be debating assisted dying legislation in 2029 at the current rate, Kim Leadbeater said, as she accused peers of deploying tactics to prevent it becoming law.

- PRESS ASSOCIATION REPORTERS

Both the House of Commons and the House of Lords must agree on the final draft of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill before the end of this parliamentary session in spring.

MPs backed the legislation in June this year, before it was sent to the upper chamber for further scrutiny.

At the second day of committee stage on Friday, peers spent four hours and 44 minutes debating 21 amendments. They had also taken almost five hours to discuss seven amendments on the first day of committee stage last week. More than 1,000 amendments have been tabled.

Ms Leadbeater, the Labour MP behind the Bill, told the PA news agency: "If we do this, it will take us until 2029 to debate the Bill, which clearly we don't have that much time."

Currently, there are two further days allocated to committee stage. This could be increased by those who schedule parliamentary business.