Assisted dying bill backers say it is near impossible' it will pass House of Lords

"MPs and peers who backed the assisted dying bill now believe it is near impossible for it to pass the House of Lords in time because of procedural obstacles used by opponents. Supporters of the bill, including its sponsor, Kim Leadbeater, have been in intense discussions with the government to find ways to move it to a vote in the Lords."

"MPs told the Guardian they were in blind fury about the apparent inevitability of the billing falling in the Lords despite passing the Commons. It is our system at its absolute most dysfunctional, one MP said. Several MPs named the former Conservative ministers Michael Gove, Therese Coffey, David Frost and Mark Harper as peers who were determined to stop the bill."

Supporters of the assisted dying bill believe procedural obstacles and determined opponents in the House of Lords make passage unlikely before the parliamentary session ends in May, after which the bill will fall. The bill’s sponsor and backers have held intense talks with the government to secure a Lords vote, but progress remains slow. Several MPs accused named peers of seeking to block the bill, while peers counter that the legislation requires thorough scrutiny and deny deliberate filibustering. The bill would legalise assisted dying for people in England and Wales with a terminal diagnosis and less than six months to live.

Read at www.theguardian.com