Labour backbenchers urge Starmer to save assisted dying bill

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More than 100 Labour MPs have written to Keir Starmer, urging him to prevent the House of Lords from blocking the assisted dying bill. The legislation was passed by the Commons last year but has been held up in the upper chamber, where it has been subject to more than 1,200 amendments. The bill’s opponents have been accused of trying to run down the clock until the end of the current parliamentary session, when the legislation will automatically lapse. With only three days of the 14 scheduled for debate left in the Lords, half of the amendments are yet to be discussed. The MPs want Starmer to guarantee more debating time in the next parliamentary session. He voted in favour of the bill but the government’s position is neutral.

Further reading: The assisted dying bill is floundering in the upper chamber