Landmark bill could still be thwarted despite big victory

The assisted dying bill has been passed in the House of Commons and its sponsor Kim Leadbeater has earned her place in history but there are still a number of hurdles it needs to clear before becoming law.

- DAVID MADDOX POLITICAL EDITOR

The legislation now goes to the House of Lords, where a large number of opponents are lying in wait. They will be emboldened by the fact that the bill was passed in the Commons by a tiny majority of 23, half the original majority of 55. More importantly, the number of 314 is just below the 318 needed for an absolute majority in the Commons. All this paves the way for a constitutional crisis.

A group of Tory peers will predictably try to cause trouble in the upper house, but the real problem could come from the crossbenchers. Prominent figures like Baroness Tanni GreyThompson, the former Paralympian, and Baroness Ilora Finlay, a professor of palliative medicine, will be bringing a large number of concerns about coercion, disability rights and other issues. Added to that the 26 Lords Spiritual - Church of England bishops have made it clear they will fight the bill all the way through the Upper House.