Labour MPs want to delay assisted dying vote to focus on local elections
A group of Labour MPs are trying to push back a vote on the amended assisted dying bill later this month, over concerns it will clash with their final week of local election campaigning.The bill to legalise assisted dying in England and Wales will return to the Commons on 25 April for debate and a vote on its amendments, if time allows, before it is sent to the House of Lords for further scrutiny.The vote will come days before the local elections on 1 May, which are largely being held in rural battlegrounds where support for Labour is traditionally weaker.The MPs pushing for a delay are opposed to assisted dying and are worried many of their colleagues will not be able to focus on campaigning in their constituencies ahead of a crucial test for Labour, after the government made a number of controversial policy decisions.Andrew Pakes, the Labour MP for Peterborough, said the issue needed parliament’s full attention.
“This is an incredibly important and sensitive issue that needs debating.The magnitude of this, given months of discussion, should have our full attention.The double whammy of it being on a Friday, and coming days before the locals will not do this matter justice,” he said.A Labour source close to MPs concerned about the bill said: “Supporters of the bill seem to be merrily continuing their campaign for assisted dying while the rest of the Labour party are trying to tackle hard issues we face after 14 years of the Tories.“Corralling MPs in Westminster during the short campaign for the local elections when they should be out campaigning in the first real electoral test of the Labour party since the general election feels like the last straw for many of us.
”The legislation will return to the Commons later this month after it was subject to scrutiny in the committee stage.The Commons leader, Lucy Powell, has said there have been more than 100 amendments made to the bill since it passed its second reading in a historic Commons vote last year.The scrutiny committee voted in favour of a multidisciplinary panel to approve assisted dying applications instead of high court judges.New amendments impose a duty on a secretary of state in England, and give powers to ministers in Wales, to ensure voluntary assisted dying services are provided.However, last week six Labour MPs, who oppose assisted dying, said the bill was “irredeemably flawed and not fit to become law” in a letter to their parliamentary colleagues.
The letter from two select committee chairs, Meg Hillier and Florence Eshalomi, alongside the Labour backbenchers Antonia Bance, Jess Asato, James Frith and Melanie Ward, said the promise the bill would be strengthened during the committee stage “had not been kept”,Kim Leadbeater, the bill’s sponsor, said the committee had made “the strongest assisted dying legislation anywhere in the world even more safer and more robust”,
Pérez in talks with teams about F1 return as Lawson reflects on demotion
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Minister seeks inquiry into British Basketball’s ‘potentially criminal’ deal
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After devastating BMX injury, Kai Sakakibara makes winning return as para cyclist | Kieran Pender
Five years after a crash that left him with a life-changing brain injury the former Olympic hopeful has a national title to his name – and his sights set on the ParalympicsFive years ago, Kai Sakakibara’s life nearly came to an end doing what he loved – bike racing. At a BMX world cup event in Bathurst, the Olympic hopeful was heading downhill into a turn when his front wheel seemed to buckle. The momentum saw Sakakibara slam headfirst into the dirt, causing carnage as a rider behind him tried to avoid the inevitable collision. In a split second, Sakakibara suffered a devastating brain injury.It was unclear whether Sakakibara, who was 23 at the time, would survive
The Spin | Intriguing and deep list of overseas stars head for County Championship
Those of us lucky enough to watch county cricket in the 1980s, with a packet of Salt’n’Shake in one hand and an autograph book in the other, could tick off Viv Richards at Somerset, Malcolm Marshall at Hampshire, Michael Holding at Derbyshire (imagine!) and Courtney Walsh at Gloucestershire in only a couple of games. And that was just for starters.The growth of franchise cricket means that players at the peak of their powers will rarely now sign on the dotted line to spend their entire summer in northern climes perfecting their red-ball skills. But the appeal remains, like a sudden blast of Madonna’s Into the Groove from a passing car as you wait for the lights to change. The 2025 County Championship overseas roster is an intriguing one
The NBA’s tank-off isn’t just embarrassing. It’s unnecessary
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From the Pocket: Andrew Krakouer blazed his own trail beyond family history and football feats
WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are warned that the following article contains the name and images of a deceased personSome of the best Australian sportswriting of the 1980s came from a young journalist from Tasmania, Martin Flanagan. He was particularly fond of Fitzroy and North Melbourne – two clubs with scarcely a dollar to their name, but rich in character and talent. Flanagan would write about anything – politicians, war heroes, graffiti artists, homeless people, police and paramedics attending catastrophic car accidents.But where he really excelled was writing about Aboriginal footballers. Many of the scribes and coaches of that era downplayed the Aboriginality of players like the Kangaroos’ Jim and Phil Krakouer
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