Pleased to see the assisted dying bill recieve its second reading this afternoon.
Now the bill will go into committee and those who are concerned about the drafting can submit amendments. It will be interesting to see if critics will engage constructively, or if they will continue to simply oppose.
Now the bill will go into committee and those who are concerned about the drafting can submit amendments. It will be interesting to see if critics will engage constructively, or if they will continue to simply oppose.
Comments
Hence many of criticisms of the Bill made at Second Reading can be addressed.
But, if people really want to keep it (and have concerns about how it would work in practice), they could make the procedure rules subject to sign-off by the Lady Chief Justice.
In the end, it will be legitimate to pose the question: are there any safeguards which would convince you to support this legislation?
It was perfectly legitimate for him to be circumspect before Second Reading. But now the principle has been endorsed by the Commons, he should show some leadership.
If this law is passed, it’s incumbent on the Government to make it work. As such, it would be sensible for the Government to bring forward amendments to ensure any concerns are addressed.
First, Committee Stage at which a small number of MPs will go through the bill line by line. At this stage, external stakeholders can provide evidence and amendments can be proposed.
Some of these will be selected by the Speaker for debate and divisions (votes) may be called on those amendments.
If they vote yes, the bill goes to the Lords, where the process is broadly repeated. If they vote no, the bill falls.
I would trust them as far as I could throw them because they have consistently failed the people of this Country (think Pandemic).