MP urges critics not to use process to kill end of life bill

The Labour MP behind the assisted dying legislation has appealed to critics not to flood her bill with amendments before MPs have a chance to make their final verdict.

- DAVID MADDOX

Kim Leadbeater gave a full and frank interview with The Independent after a bruising first week of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill committee scrutinising the proposal line by line over two sessions.

She said: "What I wouldn't want to see would be that people do try and put so many amendments in that we don't end up getting to third reading. But most MPs I've spoken to this week understand the parliamentary process." Because a private member's bill is not government legislation, it is vulnerable to being stopped through the parliamentary process.

Already progress has been slow, with the 23 MPs on the committee still looking at the first clause when it was hoped they would have already dealt with six.

Ms Leadbeater believes it will speed up but admits to "weeks and weeks of hard work ahead". She added: "Having the discussions early on the big points, like capacity, which we did, that's really important, so we need to dedicate sufficient time to it. The bill committee are taking it extremely seriously."

Ms Leadbeater is acutely aware that while she won the second reading debate, as many as 71 MPs only voted for it to allow the discussion to continue and would hold their final verdict until the third reading final vote in April or May.