A new poll has suggested that very few people are concerned about the House of Lords voting down assisted suicide.
The House of Commons voted to legalise assisted suicide in June of this year, however it must first pass the Lords and receive Royal Assent before it becomes law.
Lord Falconer, who has campaigned for the issue for decades, has suggested that the public would be “unimpressed” if the Lords opposed the will of the democratically elected chamber.
Traditionally, the Lords does not oppose government bills that were part of the ruling party’s manifesto. However, the assisted suicide bill is a private member's bill and was not in the Labour manifesto. Indeed, the government is split on the issue, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer voting for and Health Secretary Wes Streeting voting against.
Falconer’s apparent concerns appear to be ill-founded and, based on his own voting record in the Lords, insincere.
The poll in The Independent found that 70% of people with an opinion on the issue, agree that the Lords have the right to vote the bill down if they believe it poses a risk to the vulnerable.
Only 20 per cent believe that the Lords has a duty to pass the law.
The poll was conducted by Whitestone on behalf of the newspaper and spoke to over 2,000 people.
The bill to legalise assisted suicide has come under significant criticism in the Lords, with more peers speaking against than in favour of the bill. Former Prime Minister, Theresa May, said during recent debate that it made little sense for the government to have a suicide prevention strategy while also having a branch of the NHS that facilitates suicide.
A government source told Sky News’ Sam Coates that the bill has a lower than 50 per cent chance of becoming law.
A legal opinion produced for The Christian Institute by Tom Cross KC has suggested that the law, and a similar bill in Scotland, could both fall foul of the European Convention on Human Rights.
It also “unjustifiably discriminates against those persons whose disabilities manifest in the expression of suicidal ideation”, he said.
