The highly controversial assisted dying Bill is set to return to Parliament within days thanks to a Labour MP.
Lauren Edwards, the Labour MP for Rochester and Strood, said she planned to reintroduce the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which she described as a "long overdue" change in law.
First introduced by Labour's Kim Leadbeater in the Commons last year, the Bill was not passed by the House of Lords in April after the number of proposed amendments delayed its progress.
But now, Ms Edwards has vowed to "finish the job", sparking fury from her own party colleagues.
One, Antonia Bance, said it was "absolutely infuriating that one of my colleagues has decided that what Parliament should focus on in the coming months - given everything going on in the world and here at home - is bringing back the assisted dying Bill".
The Bill would allow those over the age of 18, expected to die within six months, to be given to help to end their own life.
By introducing the same exact bill, Ms Edwards threatens to trigger rarely-used powers in the Parliament Acts, legislation designed to settle disagreements between the House of Lords and Commons.
If Parliament passes an identical Bill in two consecutive sessions, peers cannot block it a second time.
The powers, which have only been used seven times in the last century, allow the Lords to suggest amendments, but if the legislation as a whole fails to pass before the end of the session, the unamended Bill could become law.
Lauren Edwards has said she will reintroduce the assisted suicide Bill which ran out of time in the Lords in April
|HOUSE OF COMMONS
Ms Edwards, in her statement, said it was not her intention that the acts should apply to the Bill.
But she added: "There will be no need for that if peers complete their unfinished business in the normal way, but we cannot allow an unelected minority to frustrate the democratic process for a second time.".
She told the BBC: "Laws passed in the House of Commons are then refined by the House of Lords, but they don't have the opportunity to block them.
"It's perfectly reasonable for us to ask the House of Lords to finish the job."
LATEST POLITICS NEWS:
Kim Leadbeater introduced the Bill in the last Parliamentary session
|GETTY
Another fellow Labour MP, Ashley Dalton, said she was "deeply concerned" by the move.
"Voters put us in power to reduce the cost of living and fix the NHS. We have debated this deeply divisive and flawed assisted dying Bill for over a year and supporters have refused to listen or to make the necessary changes," she said.
The Bill would give "sweeping unchecked powers over life and death" to the NHS, Ms Dalton said.
Last summer, more than 1,000 doctors had urged MPs to vote against the legislation, calling it a "real threat" to both patients and medics.
Ms Leadbeater's Bill narrowly passed the Commons in June 2025, with MPs allowed a free vote.
Labour did not take an official stance on assisted dying, but Sir Keir voted in favour, while then-Health Secretary Wes Streeting was publicly opposed
|GETTY
Several ministers, including then-Health Secretary Wes Streeting, voted against it - though Sir Keir Starmer voted in favour of the Bill.
Baroness Pidgeon, a Liberal Democrat peer, said the reintroduction was "welcome news", adding she planned to work with colleagues in the House of Lords to "progress this important legislation".
And with just days remaining until the looming Makerfield by-election, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham declined to weigh in on the issue.
As an MP in 2015, he abstained on voting for a previous effort to legalise assisted suicide, but in 2024 said he had changed his mind and would "probably vote in favour" of it.
"In terms of the implementation of it, I would say there should be a requirement that the hospices of this country get properly funded and sorted out before that law change comes in," he previously told the BBC.