Conversation on assisted dying ends if bill is thrown out, says MP

If the bill to legalise assisted dying is thrown out by MPs this month then "the conversation ends" on the subject, with dreadful consequences for many terminally ill people, the MP leading the process has said.

- Peter Walker

Speaking at a press conference organised by supporters of the bill, which has its third reading on 25 April when MPs will vote on amendments, Kim Leadbeater said her colleagues in the Commons had a "duty as parliamentarians to change the law now".

The Labour MP dismissed the idea that if the bill was defeated, the subject could return as government legislation or a royal commission, noting the long gap between the last time it was debated in the Commons, in 2015, and her efforts.

"What worries me is, if the bill doesn't pass, the conversation ends, and that would be really dreadful for so many people, for so many reasons," she said.