Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill

Sam Rushworth Excerpts

2nd reading
Friday 11th September 2026 Commons Chamber

[Lauren Edwards]

I disagree with the position that any time we amend a Bill in this place, it is ultimately deficient and unworkable. That is not how it works. All I am asking the Chamber to do today is to send the Bill back to the House of Lords so it can continue its work, which was interrupted, of scrutinising the Bill.

[Sam Rushworth (Bishop Auckland) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend for giving way; she is being very generous with interventions. Is she willing to share with the House what, if any, amendments the Lords made, besides the two she has mentioned, that she thinks should have been added to the Bill, and, if so, why they were not?

[Lauren Edwards]

There were a number of amendments around points of clarification—some external organisations wanted some words made a little clearer, although they seem robust to me—that I certainly believe could be made in the House of Lords.

--- Later in debate ---

[Christine Jardine]

Sorry, I will not take interventions.

Those peers did not show the same respect for the repeatedly expressed will of those who face the end of their lives.

[Sam Rushworth]

Does the hon. Member acknowledge that the handful of peers she refers to include the former presidents of the British Medical Association and Royal College of Psychiatrists, a leading professor of palliative medicine, a former chief executive of NHS England, two former Attorney Generals and the former president of the family division of the High Court?

[Christine Jardine]

I do, but they are each one individual, and each of the professional organisations is neutral, and believe me, I envy them on that.

We have the responsibility to make the decision. The majority of us have already said that this is the best Bill we can produce. We—the majority of us—have made that decision once already, and we sent it to the other place. If we do that again today, I hope that those in the other place listen and take that on board and that the handful of peers who blocked it—