Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill

Debate between Ben Spencer and Andrew Lewin

2nd reading
Friday 11th September 2026 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Lewin]

I am grateful for my hon. Friend’s intervention. I do not have that number; what I do have is the number of amendments that were proposed. There were 1,286 wrecking amendments.

There are many thoughtful and compassionate critics of the Bill who I respect deeply. I want to put on record my admiration for my hon. Friend the Member for West Lancashire (Ashley Dalton) and for her astonishingly brave speech. However, what I cannot condone is the actions of Members of the other place whose motivation in the last Session of Parliament appeared to be to block the democratic process.

[Dr Ben Spencer]

Is a requirement to ask someone why they want to have a physician-assisted suicide a wrecking amendment?

[Andrew Lewin]

The point I was making, which I believe many colleagues will recognise, was that having over 100 hours of debate and more than 1,000 amendments was not conducive to the idea of making serious progress with the Bill; it was, to all intents and purposes, a filibuster.

Our role today extends beyond debating the Bill. It is also to reaffirm the will and primacy of the House of Commons.