Assisted dying backers could seek to bypass Lords block with Parliament Act

Lord Charlie Falconer has said the Parliament Act could be used to bypass a block in the LordsSupporters of assisted dying could seek to bypass opposition in the Lords using a rare parliamentary procedure to get the Bill on the statute books. Sponsors of the legislation believe the Parliament Act could be invoked to override objections from peers if the draft law is not approved before the King’s Speech in May. Backers of the assisted dying legislation say there are precedents for the Act being used in relation to so-called “conscience issues”. Only seven Bills have been passed using the powers under section 2 of the law, including the Hunting Act 2004. “People need to be very clear, using the Parliament Act to force this through would mean that none of the known issues with the Bill would be fixed.