Labour MP bringing back assisted dying bill urges House of Lords to finish its job

Edwards, who took several weeks to announce she would use her private member’s bill to return the subject to the Commons, said she had felt a duty to do so from the moment the ballot was announced. “There was definitely a feeling of overwhelming responsibility. But I really see it as an interrupted conversation that we’ve been having as legislators that really needs to come to a conclusion.”

She said she believed the Lords could still amend the legislation, as long as it then went to a vote and returned to the Commons. MPs will not be able to amend the bill before it goes to the Lords, or else the Parliament Act cannot apply. But Edwards said MPs would be able to suggest suitable amendments to be made in the Lords and that she hoped peers would seek to scrutinise and improve rather than block the bill.

Edwards has faced some criticism from disability groups, many of whom are opposed to the bill, and has apologised for past social media comments in which she referred to “retards”.

She said had been prepared for the comments from 2009, which resurfaced after her election in 2024, to be part of the criticism of her and she was deeply regretful.

“It’s right that they bring it up and I fully expected it to be brought up,” she said. “Unfortunately, that language was very prevalent. But no one was more horrified than me when I saw that, within a few months of being elected. I can just only apologise again and say that it certainly doesn’t reflect any broader attitudes or feelings that I have towards disabled people.”

Edwards said she had been supportive of disability rights campaigns in her constituency and opposed welfare changes that would have affected personal independence payments.

“I signed that reasoned amendment because I was so concerned that it would have a really detrimental impact on the lives of disabled people who need Pip to be able to live their lives with dignity,” she said. “I guess I would ask people to judge me on all of my behaviours and all of the work I do.”

The bill will have new co-sponsors for its return to the Commons but those will include its original sponsor – the Labour MP Kim Leadbeater.

Others include the Conservative MP Peter Bedford, which will come as a blow to opponents who had previously claimed Bedford was among those wavering on the bill. Andrew George, the Liberal Democrat MP, will also co-sponsor it with Davies-Jones and Tidball.

Several other MPs have also signed up to co-sponsor including those on the previous bill’s scrutiny committee, the Conservative Kit Malthouse, the Labour MPs Dr Peter Prinsley and Dr Simon Opher, as well as the Lib Dem MP Josh Babarinde, the Green MP Sian Berry and the Plaid Cymru MP Liz Saville-Roberts.