Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill

Debate between Gavin Robinson and Lauren Edwards

2nd reading
Friday 11th September 2026 Commons Chamber

[Lauren Edwards]

No. The Bill was expertly drafted by the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel and developed with comprehensive technical advice from officials in both the Department of Health and Social Care and the Ministry of Justice.

[Gavin Robinson (Belfast East) (DUP)]

Will the hon. Lady give way?

[Lauren Edwards]

No, I will make a little bit more progress, please.

Although the Government are neutral on the issue of assisted dying—then, as now—they have a duty to ensure that any legislation that Parliament passes is effective, legally robust and workable. I am confident in saying to this House that the Bill before us today is a well-designed, safe piece of legislation.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lauren Edwards]

As has been mentioned, the Bill has been subject to hundreds of hours of scrutiny, and amendments have been made to strengthen its safeguards, but that does not mean it cannot be strengthened further. As with any Bill, it will benefit from additional scrutiny. The Bill before us today already includes an important clarification on eating disorders that was agreed without a vote in the House of Lords last time. Together with the co-sponsor of the Bill in the House of Lords, Lord Falconer, who is in the Gallery today, I have recently met representatives from medical bodies and hospice organisations to discuss further amendments that could be made in the other place.

[Gavin Robinson]

I am very grateful to the hon. Lady for allowing me to intervene. She mentions that the Government have a responsibility to ensure this legislation is lawful and workable, yet she is the Bill’s sponsor—that responsibility rests on her, too. Yet despite knowing that the Bill’s sponsor in the previous Session brought forward over 30 amendments and eight new clauses of her own and the Bill’s sponsor in the Lords brought forward 77—a recognition that the Bill is manifestly unworkable—she has chosen not to amend her Bill. What is before us today is for a political—