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.
We are currently recruiting for a new Treasurer and three new Trustees to join our Board. If you have experience in financial management, fundraising, digital communications and stakeholder partnerships we particularly want to hear from you!
On Friday 12 September, the House of Lords will debate the Bill to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales. We explore what lies ahead for the Bill in the Upper House with Sir David Beamish, former Clerk of the Parliaments – the Lords’ most senior official. Sharing an insider’s guide to the Chamber’s unique, self-regulating procedures, Sir David explains how the legislative process differs from the Commons, and what that could mean for the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill’s potentially long and contested passage. Please help us by completing our Listener Survey. It will only take a few minutes.
In this episode we speak with historian Jonathan Healey about one of the most extraordinary days in parliamentary history when King Charles I entered the Commons Chamber with soldiers aiming to arrest five MPs. This dramatic moment, vividly recounted in Healey’s new book The Blood in Winter, marked a crucial turning point toward civil war. We explore the power struggles, propaganda, and the geography that shaped the fate of a nation and the Westminster Parliament. Please help us by completing our Listener Survey. It will only take a few minutes.
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.
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.
