by David Alton, The Critic
There is no principled case for using the Parliament Acts to squeeze through assisted suicide
After narrowly passing its Third Reading in the House of Commons, at the end of the last parliamentary session, the assisted suicide Bill fell in the House of Lords. This came after Peers debated the Bill for sixteen days. In truth, however much time was given to it, the Bill was simply too flawed to be fixed.
The Bill’s demise came hard on the heels of a vote in the Scottish Parliament to reject similar legislation.
Yet, despite myriad deficiencies and the dangers inherent in such legislation, a controversial campaign is now underway to force the same Westminster Bill into law in the new parliamentary session by using the Parliament Acts to bludgeon it through the legislative process, effectively bypassing House of Lords approval and vital scrutiny.
Only seven Bills have ever reached the statute book through use of the Parliament Acts, which have never been used for a Private Members’ Bill.
Of course, unlike a Government Bill, with its pre-legislative, consultative, and draft phases, as well as protracted policy development and honing, the assisted suicide Bill, as a Private Members’ Bill, entered Parliament relatively untested, something borne out by the torrid time the Bill has had to date.
The Parliament Acts of 1911 and 1949 are intended to be used only as a last resort when there is a deadlock between the two Houses over essential government priorities.