The assisted dying bill could be defeated amid growing concerns over how it is being handled, some ministers believe.
Sources told the Mail that senior figures were ‘spooked’ by the backlash to major changes to the controversial legislation revealed last week.
Some in Government now think it could be voted down by MPs when it next returns to the Commons because of concerns that key safeguards have been watered down.
With a 55 majority at Second Reading, only 28 former backers would need to change their minds for the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill to be defeated at the Third Reading – with at least two already indicating they will do so.
One senior Cabinet source told the Mail: ‘Government figures now think there’s a real chance the legislation doesn’t make it through next hurdles.’
But Labour backbencher Kim Leadbeater, who is taking the Private Member’s Bill through Parliament, assured this newspaper last night: ‘I honestly don’t recognise this at all from all the very constructive meetings I’ve been having with the Government at both ministerial and official level almost every day.
‘The important point to remember is that MPs will have plenty of time to look at the bill in the round when it comes out of committee. So it’s really far too early to speculate about future votes.’
Her bill would give terminally ill people with less than six months to live the opportunity to request a fatal dose of medicine, and last year she assured MPs it would have the strongest protections in the world against coercion.
The assisted dying bill could be defeated amid growing concerns over how it is being handled, some ministers believe (Pictured: Kim Leadbeater)
Sources told the Mail that senior figures were ‘spooked’ by the backlash to major changes to the controversial legislation revealed last week (pictured: Campaigners outside Parliament)
But then last week she stunned Westminster by announcing that High Court judges would no longer be approving applications, instead proposing a system she dubbed ‘judge plus’ in which social workers and psychiatrists would consider requests.
Details of her amendments then revealed that there would also be a ‘voluntary assisted dying commissioner’ who would oversee these panels.
Families would not need to be told of a relative’s application for an assisted death and the panels could be held in private at the patient’s request.
Meanwhile in the Commons, the committee of MPs hand-picked by Ms Leadbeater to scrutinise the bill rejected a series of proposals to protect vulnerable people.
She also sparked fury from disability rights campaigners by dismissing criticism as ‘noise in the debate around choice at the end of life’.
Palliative care doctor Rachel Clarke, who gave evidence to the committee, told The Sunday Times: ‘This feels like rushed, slapdash, on-the-hoof legislation, and I believe my patients deserve better.’
With a 55 majority at Second Reading, only 28 former backers would need to change their minds for the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill to be defeated at the Third Reading (Pictured: Antonia Bance)
Labour backbencher Antonia Bance said: ‘Whatever your position on assisted dying, it’s clear to me and many Labour MPs that this process and the bill aren’t fit for purpose.
‘The campaigning zeal of those pushing the bill is undermining confidence in Parliament’s ability to create a system that treats people with dignity, but protects the vulnerable.
‘This can’t continue. Supporters of assisted dying need to stop ignoring evidence they disagree with and try to find a balanced way forward.’
