{"id":410516,"date":"2026-02-06T04:17:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T04:17:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/410516\/"},"modified":"2026-02-06T04:17:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T04:17:09","slug":"mps-should-override-lords-on-assisted-dying-says-former-top-uk-judge-politico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/410516\/","title":{"rendered":"MPs should override Lords on assisted dying, says former top UK judge \u2013 POLITICO"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Though he supports the flexibility of the Lords system, Neuberger said the behavior of peers over assisted dying could be a catalyst for reform of the unelected upper chamber.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf it\u2019s felt, and I think with some justification it\u2019s felt, that the present system has been shown to be unsatisfactory, then it must be right, at least, to have a serious debate about how things could and should be changed,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Blocking vs scrutiny<\/p>\n<p>Opponents to assisted dying in the Lords argue they are undertaking necessary scrutiny to expose holes in the safeguards. These include the <a href=\"https:\/\/observer.co.uk\/news\/national\/article\/six-lords-a-speaking-the-peers-whose-long-debates-could-kill-the-assisted-dying-bill\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">role artificial intelligence plays<\/a> in the process, how the bill applies to <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/spcare\/2026\/01\/09\/terminal-illness-in-pregnancy-in-the-context-of-assisted-dying\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">someone who is pregnant<\/a>, in prison or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/politics\/2025\/12\/12\/assisted-dying-bill-peers-house-lords-kim-leadbeater\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">homeless<\/a>, and whether assessments for eligibility <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Fox_Claire\/status\/2017688856506573252\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">must be face-to-face<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/13337488-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7890396\"  \/>The bill to legalize assisted dying for terminally ill adults with fewer than six months to live was introduced by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater and completed its House of Commons stages last June. | Tolga Akmen\/EPA<\/p>\n<p>Neuberger said it would be \u201ca failure of the system\u201d if the Lords doesn\u2019t reach a decision by the spring. \u201cIn the end, there has to be a decision one way or the other,\u201d he said, while also acknowledging \u201cthe way you get there is, inevitably, quite often messy.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Private members\u2019 bills are only scrutinized on Fridays. The government, which as a whole remains neutral on the sensitive matter of conscience, despite Starmer\u2019s personal support, has refused to divert government time to the legislation.<\/p>\n<p>The bill needs to complete its Lords committee and report stages, pass a third reading, and the Commons must consider peers\u2019 amendments before it can become law.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Though he supports the flexibility of the Lords system, Neuberger said the behavior of peers over assisted dying&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":410517,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[43822,457,625,458,1343,59,57,58,420,50,423,470,1352,56,54,55,7747,637],"class_list":["post-410516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-assisted-dying","tag-books","tag-british-politics","tag-budget","tag-courts","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-keir-starmer","tag-news","tag-parliament","tag-rights","tag-services","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-wes-streeting","tag-westminster-bubble"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=410516"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/410516\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/410517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=410516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=410516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=410516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}