The bill, introduced by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater in October 2024 after she came first in the private members' bill ballot, would have given terminally ill, mentally competent adults with six months or less to live the option of an assisted death. It covered England and Wales only; a Scottish version was rejected on 17 March 2025, while Jersey and the Isle of Man have passed their own laws. The legislation required two doctors to independently confirm eligibility, a 7-day reflection period between assessments, and a 14-day reflection period after an expert panel decision.
A new poll by MHP Group and Cambridge University's Political Psychology Lab found 75% of the public support assisted dying, with only 14% opposed. Support is strongest among Conservative voters (83%) and Reform supporters (40% strongly agree). A majority of Christians (68%) support assisted dying, while Muslims are the only faith group where more oppose (48%) than support (25%). Sarah Wootton, CEO of Dignity in Dying, said the poll shows 'the public is not as divided on assisted dying as some politicians believe'. Nick Hoile, senior director at MHP Health, said support for assisted dying is 'coming from places that you might not expect', including Conservative voters.
I'm terminally ill with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer. I've actually lived past my prognosis which was about three years. I'm now doing about four in a bit so I'm doing well to be here. But I'm not going to get better, I am going to die. I have seen loved ones die of cancer and I know what potentially lies ahead of me and it absolutely scares me to death. I am absolutely... petrified. It's a fear you carry around with you all the time. Most people would think of me as a positive person but it's a fear that's with you, it's like a weight. So even if the bill is brought back in the next session through the Parliament Act and even if it gets through in a year, it is going to be five years before it's available. So from my point of view... It's not going to be available for me. So what it means for me is potentially going to Switzerland or I will take matters into my own hands and do what a fellow campaigner did and refuse fluids, food and
The Crown Prosecution Service has recorded 209 cases of suspected assisted dying referred by police between 1 April 2009 and 31 March 2025. Of those, 131 were not taken forward by prosecutors, 42 were withdrawn by police, and six resulted in successful prosecutions. Dave Sowry, board member of My Death, My Decision, said accompanying his wife to Dignitas resulted in 'additional stress and jeopardy' from police investigation, according to The Guardian.
Emotional protests and campaigner reactions marked the bill's failure. Four terminally ill women—Sophie Blake, Elise Burns, Pamela Fisher, and Christie Arntsen—stood on plinths in Parliament Square to protest. Campaign group Dignity in Dying organized the largest ever public demonstration in support of assisted dying outside Parliament. According to Daily Mirror - News, Pamela Fisher described her fear of dying in pain and said the Lords' actions were 'beyond belief'. According to Daily Mirror - Main, Louise Shackleton said peers 'should hang their heads in shame' for blocking the bill. According to Daily Express - UK News, Dame Esther Rantzen accused the Lords of 'absolute blatant sabotage' by tabling 1,200 amendments to block the bill. Kim Leadbeater said she was 'extremely disappointed and upset and also quite angry' that the legislation would fall in the Lords, according to BBC News.
How dare these ten disgraced peers look society in the face and say they care about dying people, they should hang their heads in shame. How dare they put their belief systems above the care and compassion that should be shown to people who have been promised an agonising death by their diseases. They have cost our country not only humanity but also millions of pounds in the games they are playing. The Lords have played these games before, they played it with the Hunting Act. Just recently in 2022, the parliament act had to be brought in because the Lords refused to make it illegal to bring back hunting trophies from countries like Africa.
Supporters of the bill plan to reintroduce it in the next parliamentary session via the private members' bill ballot, with around 200 MPs willing to back it. The Parliament Acts could be used to bypass the Lords if the bill passes the Commons again in two successive sessions. According to Sky News, Charlie Falconer said the bill's chances of becoming law are 'significantly more than 50%'. According to Sky News, Dr Simon Opher said he would reintroduce the bill and put its chances of becoming law at 90%. According to Daily Express - UK News, Dr Simon Opher said 86% of the public want the bill to return and that he and a group of MPs will do everything to make it a reality and invoke the Parliament Act.
Opposition arguments and Lords' scrutiny have been central to the debate. According to Sky News, Labour MP Adam Jogee, who opposes the bill, said the public wants 'safe, well-developed laws' and the Lords 'exposed deep flaws' in the bill. Baroness Grey-Thompson, who opposes the bill, said peers had been scrutinising the bill line by line and it was a 'red herring' to claim otherwise. The discrepancy in the number of MPs ready to reintroduce the bill—around 200 versus around 50—affects the perceived level of parliamentary support and the likelihood of success in the next session. The core political disagreement is whether the Lords are obstructing democracy or performing their constitutional duty of scrutiny.
This is a handful of peers putting down 1,200 amendments not to scrutinise the bill, which is their job, but to block it.
Uncertainties about the bill's future remain. It is unclear whether the bill will be successfully reintroduced in the next parliamentary session via the private members' bill ballot. If reintroduced, it is uncertain whether the Parliament Acts will be invoked to bypass the Lords, and how long that process would take. The specific 'deep flaws' that opponents claim the Lords exposed in the bill have not been detailed. The government's response to calls to allocate time for the bill in the next session is also unknown. The exact number of peers actively blocking the bill and their main objections remain unclear.
Support for assisted dying is often portrayed by politicians as either being a controversial opinion, or an opinion that is associated with the liberal Left. This study shows that both of those beliefs are untrue. The public strongly support assisted dying…some of that support is coming from places that you might not expect. The party whose supporters are the most likely to support a change in the law is the Conservative Party.
Shows clearly that the public is not as divided on assisted dying as some politicians believe. There is strong, consistent support for change across political parties, including among Conservative and Reform voters, as well as among many people of faith. When three quarters of the public support giving terminally ill people choice, the question is no longer whether the country is ready, but whether Parliament is willing to act. It is unacceptable that a small number of peers have been able to filibuster and stall a bill backed by MPs and the public alike. The Government must now step in, allocate time in the next session, and ensure this legislation reaches a final decision.
In my case, the police decided to take no further action. What sort of country do we live in where accompanying someone who has made a personal choice at the end of their life results in such additional stress and jeopardy?
The strategy is to come high up in the private members bill ballot.
The idea is we all support that person to take Kim [Leadbeater]'s bill through again.
As it is a private members' bill, the whole committee could be supporters of the legislation, so the committee stage would only last a few hours.
There's very little appetite for a long, drawn-out debate. There would be appetite for one day of decisive votes.
Rightly, the overwhelming majority of people in our country want their MPs to pass safe, well-developed laws that are watertight and robust. The House of Lords has exposed deep flaws in the assisted dyi
We don't want to get to that stage, we want this to go through the normal legislative process.
86% of the British public want the bill to return in the next session – myself and a group of MPs will do everything we can to make this a reality and invoke the Parliament Act.