Labour’s Kim Leadbeater slams friends for ‘pointless and merciless’ modifications to assisted dying legal guidelines as she berates Lords for holding up her Bill – however opponents warn laws is ‘unsafe’

Labour‘s Kim Leadbeater today slammed peers over ‘totally unnecessary’ and ‘very cruel’ changes to her proposed assisted dying laws.

The MP, who is behind the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, accused some in the House of Lords of trying to derail the legislation by tabling stacks of amendments.

But critics of Ms Leadbeater’s Bill said the changes were needed to fill ‘massive gaps’ as they suggested the ‘badly-written’ legislation was currently unsafe.

There have been more than 1,000 amendments tabled to Ms Leadbeater’s Bill in the Lords after it was passed by the House of Commons in June.

Peers who are opposed to assisted dying have been accused of time-wasting and obstructing the legislation as a means of sabotaging the Bill’s progress.

The Bill will become law only if both the Commons and the Lords agree on the final drafting of the legislation.

Approval is needed before spring when the current session of Parliament ends, with supporters fearing the Bill could run out of time to be passed into law.

Peers are holding their last committee session of the year to scrutinise the Bill on Friday, ahead of further sessions allocated from January.

Labour ‘s Kim Leadbeater has slammed peers over ‘totally unnecessary’ and ‘very cruel’ changes to her proposed assisted dying laws

There have been more than 1,000 amendments tabled to Ms Leadbeater’s Bill in the House of Lords after it was passed by the House of Commons in June

Crossbench peer Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson said members were interrogating the Bill ‘line by line’ and filling ‘massive gaps’ to put safeguards in

Ahead of Friday’s session in the Lords, Ms Leadbeater said there was a real possibility the Bill was being sabotaged by peers who oppose assisted dying.

‘What we’re seeing with this Bill, sadly, is well over 1,000 amendments have been tabled, many of which are totally unnecessary and some of which are actually just very cruel,’ Ms Leadbeater told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

‘It’s looking increasingly like people who are fundamentally opposed to a change in the law, a view which I respect, (are) trying to prevent the law passing.’ 

The Labour backbencher said unnecessary amendments included one which said the dying person should not have left the country within the last 12 months, and another which said the death should be filmed.

‘That just seems incredibly intrusive and heartless to be quite honest with you,’ Ms Leadbeater added.

‘We are elected MPs. The House of Lords is not elected, and I am worried about the damage of the reputation to the Lords based on this behaviour.’

Asked if there was a possibility that scrutiny was becoming sabotage, she said: ‘I think, sadly, it is.’

But defending the Lords, Crossbench peer Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson said members were interrogating the Bill ‘line by line’ and filling ‘massive gaps’ to put safeguards in.

She insisted the Lords did not have to abide by the wishes of the Commons as legislation on assisted dying was not included in Labour’s general election manifesto.

‘There are so many gaps in it, it is a badly-written Bill,’ the former Paralympian added.

‘If we are going to do this, we have to do it properly and we have to make it safe. And it’s our job to build in that safety.’

If passed, the Bill will allow terminally ill adults in England and Wales with fewer than six months to live to apply for an assisted death, subject to approval by two doctors and a panel featuring a social worker, senior legal figure and psychiatrist.

After passing its initial stages in the Commons, the Bill has been slow to progress through the Lords as changes – such as potentially stronger assessments for young people seeking an assisted death and further safeguards to prevent so-called ‘death tourism’ – have been debated.

Assisted dying campaigner Dame Esther Rantzen, who has repeatedly urged members of the Lords not to block the landmark legislation, has warned that ‘scrutiny must not tip into sabotage’.