Is Kim Leadbeater's Assisted Dying Bill now "over the hump?" The Bill's supporters got it though its first day of Report Stage consideration in the House of Commons unscathed, with comfortable majorities in every vote. So, with debate on the most contentious set of amendments disposed of, will it now coast through its remaining scrutiny days in the Commons?
Please help us by completing our Listener Survey. It will only take a few minutes.
Ruth and Mark, joined by procedural guru and former Commons Clerk Paul Evans, break down the tactical landscape and recap how the debate unfolded. They also assess the Speaker’s pivotal decisions that shaped the debate – awarding points for both artistic impression and technical merit.
With the bill set to return to the Commons to complete Report Stage on the next Private Members Bill Friday, on 13 June, they suggest that the biggest remaining obstacle is the next "in principle" vote, at the end of the Third Reading debate.
Please help us by completing our Listener Survey. It will only take a few minutes.
Paul Evans CBE
Paul worked as a Clerk in the House of Commons for nearly forty years, retiring in 2019 as Clerk of Committees responsible for the House’s select committees. He was made a CBE in 2019 for services to Parliament. During his career in the House of Commons he held a number of posts including Clerk of the Journals and Principal Clerk of the Table Office. He is a member of the Hansard Society and is a former Chair of the Study of Parliament Group . He has published a number of works on Parliament including the Dods Handbook of House of Commons Procedure.
Hansard Society
Parliament
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill: Bill documents
Please note, this transcript is automatically generated. There may consequently be minor errors and the text is not formatted according to our style guide. If you wish to reference or cite the transcript copy below, please first check against the audio version above.
supported by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust. Learn more at hansardsociety.org.uk/pm.
Ruth Fox: Welcome to Parliament Matters, the podcast about the institution at the heart of our democracy, Parliament itself. I'm Ruth Fox.
Mark D'Arcy: And I'm Mark D'Arcy. And welcome to the latest in our special series of podcasts, tracing the progress of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, the bill that will enable assisted dying in England and Wales.
And we're recording just hours after the latest section of debate on the bill. The first day of its report stage consideration has ended, with some people who support the bill saying that they're now over the hump. The most difficult section of debate has now been dealt with, even if a few of the votes haven't yet happened.
Ruth Fox: Yes, Mark, [00:01:00] it was, well, it was a techier than, certainly the second reading, and some of what we saw in public bill committee. It was quite a difficult debate at times and a sense that a few people were quite close to losing their temper and some others quite emotional.
Mark D'Arcy: Yeah, indeed it was, a different tone of debate.
They said after the second reading debate, this is parliament at its best, which is the MP's sort of backslapping self congratulation of it. We've all been polite to one another today. This was not so polite. There was definitely more kind of subliminal suggestion of bad faith from the other side. Coming from both sides of the debate. And a certain amount of nastiness and just a tinge of procedural gameplay as well. You know, divisions were forced and then went on longer than usual and
Ruth Fox: A bit of foot dragging in the division lobbies.
Mark D'Arcy: Foot dragging in the division lobbies. The kind of old school time wasting tactics that I used to spend many a long Private Members Bill Friday watching in my Today In Parliament days, and here we are again with the same old games being played.
Ruth Fox: Yeah, and I think the Sergeant at Arms was sent out into the [00:02:00] division lobby, I think a couple of times to find out what was going on.
Mark D'Arcy: It wasn't allowed to drag on too long.
Mr. Speaker Hoyle was pretty diligent in making sure that after 15 minutes had elapsed, you know, he'd make sure that they weren't gonna let it drag on.
Ruth Fox: Yeah, yeah.
Mark D'Arcy: So he didn't indulge the game playing.
Ruth Fox: Yeah. No, it was a very different tone of the debate, I have to say. I don't think Esther Rantzen has helped.
Use the links below to subscribe to the Hansard Society's Parliament Matters podcast on your preferred app, or search for 'Parliament Matters' on whichever podcasting service you use. If you are unable to find our podcast, please email us here.
The UK Spending Review outlines how Government funds will be allocated over several years. Unlike the Budget, which raises revenue, the Review decides how it is spent. But how is it approved? What role does Parliament play if it doesn’t vote on the Review itself? This blog explores how the Spending Review works, how it differs from the Budget, and how Parliament holds the Government to account through the Estimates process.
On Friday 13 June, the House of Commons will once again debate the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which would legalise assisted dying in England and Wales. Specifically, it will hold a second day of Report Stage, during which the whole House will debate and vote on amendments. This briefing explains the structure of Report Stage, what happened on the first day of Report Stage, how amendments are selected and grouped, on which amendments a decision can still be taken, and the likely sequence of events this Friday, including whether a final vote will take place.
The Chancellor, Rachel Reeves MP, will deliver a statement on the Spending Review. MPs will resume Report Stage of the assisted dying bill and debate key legislation on football governance, mental health, and planning and infrastructure. Peers and MPs are expected to resolve their standoff over AI and copyright in the Data (Use and Access) Bill. The Commons Defence Committee will hear from the lead reviewers of the Strategic Defence Review, while a Lords Committee will examine the Chagos Archipelago sovereignty issue. The Hansard Society’s Director will give evidence to the Modernisation Committee about access to the House of Commons and its procedures.
In this episode, we explore why ministers keep bypassing Parliament to make major announcements to the media — and whether returning to the Despatch Box might help clarify their message. We unpack the Lords' uphill battle to protect creators’ rights in the Data Use and Access Bill, challenge claims that the Assisted Dying Bill lacks scrutiny, and examine early findings from a Speaker’s Conference on improving security for MPs, as threats and intimidation against politicians continue to rise. Please help us by completing our Listener Survey. It will only take a few minutes.
Our evidence on treaty scrutiny has been published by the House of Lords International Agreements Committee. Our submission outlines the problems with the existing framework for treaty scrutiny and why legislative and cultural change are needed to improve Parliament's scrutiny role. Our evidence joins calls for a parliamentary consent vote for the most significant agreements, a stronger role for Parliament in shaping negotiating mandates and monitoring progress, and a sifting committee tasked with determining which agreements warrant the greatest scrutiny.
