Assisted dying bill fails as Lords run out of time; UK leaders unite on Falklands

A proposed bill to allow terminally ill adults in England and Wales to choose to end their lives will not become law, after the House of Lords ran out of time to debate the numerous amendments. The assisted dying bill, which passed the House of Commons in June last year, had 16 days in the Lords for peers to debate on it, but due to the number of amendments lodged by opponents – more than 1,280 – the house ran out of time. With the parliamentary session coming to an end next week, the bill will fail.

As the debate came to a close, former justice secretary Charlie Falconer, who sponsored the assisted dying bill in the Lords, described the process as "horrible", saying it had not failed to finish its journey through the Lords due to a lack of time, but rather "because a small minority were not willing to cooperate, as we normally do, to ensure that there can be proportionate debate".

Campaigners have said they could use the Parliament Act to get the bill through if it was selected. That act, a rarely used piece of legislation, allows for bills that have been backed by the Commons in two successive sessions but rejected by peers to pass into law without Lords approval. Falconer told peers: "It is clear that the issue will not go away, nor should it, until it is resolved. Parliament can and must come to a decision. It is now for the other place to decide what we do next."

Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, who introduced the assisted dying bill to the House of Commons in late 2024, had watched from the gallery as peers debated the proposed legislation in the Lords. As the draft legislation fell, Leadbeater stood and held her hand to her mouth, shaking her head. Earlier, she said she will again enter her name in the ballot of private members' bills.

Assisted dying campaigners are in defiant mood in Parliament Square ahead of the fall of the assisted dying Bill, while opponents celebrate the demise of legislation they deemed "unfit and unsafe". Demonstrators from multiple pro-choice groups joined Kim Leadbeater – who sponsored the Bill in the Commons – and other MPs to insist this is not the end of their campaign.

Meanwhile, Downing Street said the UK's position on the Falklands is resolute and unchanging, after a leaked Pentagon internal email proposed the US should reassess its support for Britain's claim to the islands because of a lack of support over Iran. Party leaders were united on the issue, with the Conservative's Kemi Badenoch describing the US stance was "absolute nonsense", while Nigel Farage said he would raise the issue personally with Argentina president Javier Milei. The issue is likely to cause further tensions as King Charles prepares to visit the US next week. But Downing Street insisted the state visit will "showcase the very best of the UK-US bilateral relationship". Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said the king's visit to the US should be cancelled. "The state visit should clearly be pulled – this unreliable, damaging president [Donald Trump] cannot keep insulting our country."

In Scotland, the Green party leader Zack Polanski has voiced his support for Scottish independence. "I think there's something unstoppable about a movement happening in this country," he said. Polanski also called for Trump to be stripped of his Scottish golf courses over his actions internationally. The US president owns two golf resorts north of the border, in South Ayrshire and Aberdeenshire, but the Green leader has called on the UK government to sanction him.

The UK and France have been leading efforts to get the strait of Hormuz reopened, with Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron hosting talks in Paris with allies to discuss ways to defend the key shipping route. Pete Hegseth, the US secretary of defence, is apparently not a fan of the approach, calling it a "silly little conference".

Nigel Farage said Reform UK will lead a protest through Westminster on Monday to insist fuel duty "must not go up". Fuel duty has been frozen since 2011, and was cut by 5p in 2022 in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. But at her budget last year, chancellor Rachel Reeves said the 5p cut would be phased out from September.