News

Assisted dying bill: Special series #5 - Parliament Matters podcast, Episode 77

28 Feb 2025

In this fifth instalment of our special mini-podcast series, we take you back inside the Public Bill Committee for the latest updates as MPs continue their scrutiny of the assisted dying bill. This week we speak with Kit Malthouse MP, a co-sponsor of the Bill and a key voice in the Committee’s deliberations.

Kit Malthouse, a former Home Office Minister and Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Choice at the End of Life, is a strong supporter of the assisted dying bill and a key ally of its sponsor, Kim Leadbeater MP, in the Public Bill Committee.

In this episode, Kit shares his insights on the Committee’s discussion of key amendments this week, as well as the further changes he hopes to propose later in the process.

We explore the challenge of determining how much detail should go on the face of the bill and how much should be left to regulations, the unusual role of Government Ministers in the Committee – speaking as Ministers but voting as MPs – and whether the decision to alter the judicial safeguards is eroding support for the bill.

©

Kit Malthouse MP

The Rt Hon Kit Malthouse is a member of the House of Commons Committee considering the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill and has been the Conservative MP for North West Hampshire since 2015. He was a Government Minister under Prime Ministers Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss. Before becoming an MP he had been a councillor on Westminster City Council, a member of the London Assembly and a Deputy Mayor of London. He is Co-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Choice at the End of Life.

Hansard Society

Parliament

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.

[00:00:00] Intro: You are listening to Parliament Matters, a Hansard Society production supported by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust. Learn more at hanardsociety.org.uk/pm.

[00:00:17] Ruth Fox: Welcome to Parliament Matters, the podcast about the institution at the heart of our democracy Parliament itself. I'm Ruth Fox.

[00:00:24] Mark D'Arcy: And I'm Mark D'Arcy. And welcome to the latest in our series of special podcasts, tracing the progress of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) bill, the bill that will legalise assisted dying.

[00:00:35] Ruth Fox: And this week we're speaking to Kit Malthouse, a former Home Office and Justice Minister who's sitting on the Public Bill Committee considering this legislation and is also Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for choice at the end of life. He co-sponsored the bill with Kim Leadbeater.

[00:00:56] Mark D'Arcy: Kit Malthouse, first of all, give us a flavor of what it's like on the committee. You've been meeting for several weeks now. There's lots of amendments, lots of quite passionate speeches, lots of routine grind. How's it appeared to you, sitting there as a big supporter of the bill?

[00:01:10] Kit Malthouse MP: Well, it's been pretty intense, if the truth be told. As you, as you say, we've been at it for quite a, a bit now and we're sort of getting still in the early clauses of the bill.

[00:01:21] And it's been intense on a number of levels. I mean, obviously we're talking about an extremely serious subject, a matter of, of life and death and, and humanity and compassion and principle. But also it's intense because it's very legalistic. For those of us who aren't, uh, lawyers, line by line, scrutiny of any bill is quite testing from an intellectual point of view and understanding what can be quite complex interactions between this bill, other bills and between clauses in this bill itself is quite intense and requires a lot of concentration. And of course you will know that the way Parliament presents these things, also takes quite a bit of, of staying on top of. So while we might debate certain amendments, we don't actually get to voting on those amendments until later in the bill.

[00:02:10] And so working out what you are going to be voting on in the future is also part of the challenge. But to be honest with you, it, it's felt to me actually, for all the very obvious differences on the committee, in many ways, quite constructive. I think everybody's motivation is the same, which is to make the bill as safe as possible, although even then I think there are some people who, even if we did accept all their amendments, probably still wouldn't vote for the bill. But at the same time, I think everybody is being very respectful.

[00:02:41] Mark D'Arcy: One of the issues that came up, and it's gone big on social media, is the idea that there should be built into the bill, a requirement that someone seeking assisted dying should have a consultation with a palliative medicine provider to see whether they could, in effect, be made comfortable and not feel that they had to end their life. I think that's the logic behind it. And, uh, the minister, Stephen Kinnock and a number of other people on the committee rejected that proposition. This has led to quite an eruption on social media that the supporters of this bill don't want palliative medicine involved.

Subscribe to Parliament Matters

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.

News / Parliament Matters Bulletin: What’s coming up in Parliament this week? 21-24 July 2025

The Prime Minister will appear before the House of Commons Liaison Committee. Chancellor Rachel Reeves MP and the Governor of the Bank of England will also appear before committees. Opposition Peers will challenge regulations that would allow foreign states to hold up to 15% of the shares or voting rights in news organisations. Education and Health Ministers will face oral questions from MPs. Peers will consider seven bills. The House of Commons will debate the 80th anniversary of Victory over Japan and hold its Sir David Amess Summer Adjournment debate. Former civil servants Simon Case and Sir Tim Barrow will be introduced to the House of Lords. ❓ We value your thoughts. Please click here to let us know what you think of the Parliament Matters Bulletin in our reader survey.

20 Jul 2025
Read more

News / Parliament gagged by super-injunction? A conversation with Joshua Rozenberg - Parliament Matters podcast, Episode 101

Legal expert Joshua Rozenberg joins us this week to unpack the legal and constitutional ramifications of one of the most troubling intersections of government secrecy, national security, and parliamentary accountability in recent memory. Thousands of Afghans who had worked with British forces were placed at risk of Taliban revenge attacks after a catastrophic government data leak in 2022 exposed their details. In response, ministers secured a “super-injunction” – so secret that even its existence could not be reported – effectively silencing public debate and preventing parliamentary scrutiny for almost two years. The breach, only revealed this week, led to a covert resettlement scheme which has already cost taxpayers millions of pounds. Please help us by completing our Listener Survey. It will only take a few minutes.

18 Jul 2025
Read more

News / One year on: How is Parliament performing? - Parliament Matters podcast, Episode 100

In our 100th episode, we take stock of Parliament one year after the 2024 general election. With a fractured opposition, a dominant Labour government, and a House of Commons still governed by rules designed for a two-party system, how well is this new Parliament really functioning? Please help us by completing our Listener Survey. It will only take a few minutes.

11 Jul 2025
Read more

News / Labour's welfare meltdown - Parliament Matters podcast, Episode 99

It’s been a bruising week for the Government, as a Labour backbench revolt forced ministers to gut their own welfare reforms live in the House of Commons. We explore why Sir Keir Starmer appears to have such a poor grip on parliamentary management. Plus, House of Lords reform expert Professor Meg Russell explains why the hereditary peers bill may be a once-in-a-generation chance to tackle deeper issues — like curbing prime ministerial patronage and reducing the bloated size of the upper chamber. And in Dorking, faith and politics collide over assisted dying. Please help us by completing our Listener Survey. It will only take a few minutes.

04 Jul 2025
Read more

Submissions / Parliamentary scrutiny of treaties - Our evidence to the House of Lords International Agreements Committee

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.

03 Jun 2025
Read more