In this ninth instalment of our special mini-podcast series, we continue to explore the latest developments in the progress of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, often referred to as the assisted dying bill. We are joined by Dr Marie Tidball MP to discuss the amendments she has secured for a Disability Advisory Board and an independent advocate for people with learning disabilities.
After more than 90 hours of debate and over 100 votes, the Public Bill Committee has concluded its work on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill.
In this week’s special episode, Ruth and Mark talk to committee member Dr Marie Tidball MP. She shares her insights into the amendments she proposed to ensure disabled people have proper support and protection in navigating the assisted dying process—and reflects on her experience working on the Bill Committee.
The Bill is now set to return to the House of Commons for Report Stage consideration in April. Already, new amendments are being tabled, touching on issues such as the rights of people with neurodegenerative conditions and whether clinicians should be permitted to raise assisted dying as an option with patients.
Ruth and Mark break down the key changes made during Committee Stage and offer a preview of the debates to come.
Dr Marie Tidball MP
Marie Tidball was elected in 2024 as the Labour MP for Penistone and Stocksbridge in South Yorkshire. She is a member of the House of Commons Education Committee and has also served as a member of the Public Bill Committee of MPs appointed to scrutinise the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill – the bill to legalise assisted dying – which she supported in principle at its Second Reading. She is also Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Autism. Before becoming an MP, she studied criminology and was awarded a doctorate on autistic adult defendants in the criminal justice system. As an MP with physical disabilities, she has spoken out about the everyday difficulties that she faces navigating the parliamentary estate.
Hansard Society
Parliament
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill: Bill documents
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00:00:00] Intro: You are listening to Parliament Matters, a Hanard Society Production supported by the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust. Learn more at hansardsociety.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, charting the progress of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) bill, the bill that would enable assisted dying in England and Wales.
[00:00:36] And this week, Ruth, the bill reached an important milestone. The end of its marathon committee stage.
[00:00:41] Ruth Fox: It did half past midnight on, uh, well, early hours of Wednesday morning. The committee finally concluded its proceedings. So, uh, 29 sittings. I'm told 90 or so hours. I haven't calculated them myself, but that's what we're told.
[00:00:56] 110 divisions. The committee stage comprises 850 pages of Hansard text. So, uh, yes, it's been a marathon
[00:01:05] Mark D'Arcy: And one of the most significant players in the latter stages of the Committee has been Marie Tidball, a Labour MP and disability campaigner who pushed through significant changes aimed at helping to protect people with disabilities.
[00:01:17] Now, we've discussed on the pod before that most of the new MPs on the Committee have little experience of this kind of scrutiny work. But she's the exception to the rule as she told us when we met her just hours after that Committee had risen.
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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.
