MPs have voted by 330 to 275 to approve the assisted dying bill at a second reading. But the bill is not yet law and still has to pass through several other steps. What comes next …
… for parliament?
Immediately after Friday’s vote, Kim Leadbeater, the Labour backbencher who introduced the bill, moved a secondary motion to allow it to proceed to a public bill committee for further scrutiny.
Leadbeater will pick the committee membership and has promised that its members will reflect a balance of views. A committee of selection will then have to approve the names. The government will appoint one minister to the committee, who is expected to come from the Ministry of Justice. It is expected to start work next year.
The committee will take written and oral evidence before voting on a series of potential amendments, which it will then bring for votes on the floor of the House of Commons. This vote at report stage is normally a perfunctory affair, with government bills passing largely unchanged. However, some MPs are calling for several days to be set aside to debate and vote on all the amendments when they come.
Eventually the bill will go to the Lords, where it could go through several further iterations, before both houses eventually hold their final votes on the text. There will then be a two-year implementation period, which has been built into the bill.
… for the government?
The bill is a private member’s bill and the government remains officially neutral. However, ministers will have to pass a money resolution to allow public funds to be spent on the policy, and publish an official impact assessment. Sources said on Friday this was likely to happen before the bill goes to committee stage.
If the bill eventually becomes law, officials say the departments of health and justice will jointly oversee its implementation – a potentially thorny issue as the respective secretaries of state are both opposed to the change. Sources have spoken of Stephen Kinnock, the care minister, taking charge of the bill from within the health department. Heidi Alexander was thought to be in line to oversee it from within the justice ministry but that was before she was promoted to transport secretary. To oversee the whole operation, the government will appoint a minister who is expected to be from justice, as the bill would change criminal law.
… for Kim Leadbeater?
Leadbeater left the Commons chamber on Friday afternoon surrounded by backslappers and well-wishers, even stopping at one point to sign a copy of the bill for another Labour MP. She then went to see her parents and the families of people affected by the current law who were in the public gallery for the debate, before doing interviews in parliament. She will remain the named author of the bill.
… for the cabinet?
Downing Street has reiterated the message that cabinet ministers are not supposed to share their views on assisted dying, even now it has passed its second stage. Wes Streeting caused irritation among colleagues – including Keir Starmer – by repeatedly making clear his opposition to the bill in the lead-up to the second reading. His department will now be involved in writing the impact assessment, potentially making it even harder for him to now remain quiet about his views.
