Major Victory: Assisted Suicide Bill Runs Out of Time

The Government confirmed yesterday that it will not allocate any additional parliamentary time to the Assisted Suicide Bill.

With only a handful of sitting Fridays left before this parliamentary session ends, the Bill cannot complete its remaining stages.

This is a huge victory, and the result of a long, determined campaign.

Over the course of the campaign, we rallied across the country, visited key constituencies to put pressure on wavering MPs, invested significantly in billboards, ad vans, church mailings, targeted digital campaigns and more.

Although the Bill narrowly passed its earlier Commons vote, we – against the odds - helped reduced the majority from 55 votes to just 23. That shift in momentum mattered.

It helped galvanise Peers in the House of Lords to speak out strongly against the Bill, ensuring it now runs out of time.

But the fight is not over.

Two major battles lie ahead:

1️⃣ We must stop the Leadbeater Assisted Suicide Bill from being reintroduced in the next Parliament. This battle is likely to unfold across March, April and May.

2️⃣ We must defeat the Scottish McArthur Assisted Suicide Bill at its final Stage 3 vote in March. Encouragingly, more than 20 MSPs who initially supported the Bill have indicated they may now vote against it. If just seven switch their vote, the Bill will be defeated.

Both of these fights are very much winnable.

Thank you to everyone who stood with us. Let’s keep going.