The assisted suicide bill introduced by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater in 2024 will not become law, both sides have now conceded.
The legislation, which aimed to introduce state-sponsored assisted suicide for those in the last six months of their lives, had become increasingly controversial, facing mounting concern from medical bodies and disability rights activists.
It passed the House of Commons’s Third Reading in June with a diminished majority and was therefore sent to the House of Lords.
However, when the bill arrived in the House of Lords, whose role is to examine and scrutinise proposed laws, it was found to be lacking and to pose a threat to the most vulnerable in society. Some 1,200 amendments, believed to be a record high for a backbencher’s bill, were tabled.
