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Assisted dying bill: Special series #7 - Parliament Matters podcast, Episode 81

14 Mar 2025
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In this episode, we speak with Bambos Charalambous MP about the assisted dying bill’s key amendment, shifting oversight from a High Court Judge to a specialist panel. He explains why the Committee has debated this change but won’t vote on it yet. We also discuss parliamentary procedures, the bill’s timeline, and social media’s role in the debate. Plus, Ruth and Mark analyse the challenges ahead in getting the bill through the Commons and the House of Lords.

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This week we sit down with Bambos Charalambous MP, the former Labour whip now marshalling the supporters of the assisted dying bill in the Public Bill Committee.

As the bill faces intense debate, Charalambous explains the major shift from having a High Court Judge oversee assisted dying applications to a specialist panel — and why, despite extensive discussion, the Committee won’t vote on this crucial change for some time.

We also explore the complexities of parliamentary procedure, the legislative timetable, and the role of social media in shaping the debate. Plus, Ruth and Mark break look at the remaining timetable for getting the bill through the Commons and then the House of Lords.

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Bambos Charalambous MP. ©

Bambos Charalambous MP

The Labour MP for Southgate and Wood Green, Bambos was first elected to Parliament in 2017 and is currently a member of the House of Commons Procedure Committee as well as the Public Bill Committee currently examining the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill. He was a shadow Minister between 2018 and 2023. Before becoming an MP he was a solicitor and local councillor.

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Transcript

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 hansardsociety.org.uk/PM.

[00:00:16] Ruth Fox: Welcome to Parliament Matters, the podcast about the institution at the heart of our democracy, Parliament itself. I'm Ruth Fox,

[00:00:23] Mark D'Arcy: And I'm Mark Darcy, and welcome to the latest in our series of special mini pods following the detailed progress of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, the bill to allow assisted dying.

[00:00:35] Ruth Fox: And this week we've spoken to Bambos Charalambous, the Labour MP, supporter of the Bill, who's on the Public Bill Committee, performing an unusual role.

[00:00:43] We spoke to him on Zoom. And if you hear any odd background noises, that's because as we spoke to him there was a demonstration going on outside his parliamentary office.

[00:00:57] Mark D'Arcy: Well, we're delighted to welcome to the pod Bambos Charalambous, Labour MP, who's been a member of the Public Bill Committee, considering the Teminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, as it's officially known. So Bambos, first of all, the committee's now on what many think is going to be the most significant change that's going to be made during the committee process, the switch away from having High Court judges presiding over the consideration of applications for assisted dying to having a multidisciplinary expert panel instead.

[00:01:27] So those debates have been had. And as I understand it, the clauses about the judges being the people who preside over this have been taken out. But the new system hasn't yet, as it were, been plugged into the bill. Is that correct?

[00:01:40] Bambos Charalambous MP: That is correct, Mark. We've deleted Clause 12 that deals with the High Court Judge.

[00:01:45] And that's going to be replaced by a number of new clauses and new schedules. Those have been debated. We've had a very lengthy debate about the replacing of the High Court judge with a panel overseen by a commissioner. And, uh, those will be voted on at the very end of the bill after we've got through all 43 clauses and the amendments to those clauses.

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