Assisted dying backers could use archaic procedure to bypass undemocratic' block by peers

"Supporters of assisted dying will seek to force through the bill using an archaic parliamentary procedure if it continues to be blocked by the Lords. The high stakes move described by some backers as the nuclear option would be the first time the 1911 Parliament Act has been invoked for a private member's bill. The acknowledgment by supporters that they are now preparing to use the act is a sign of growing desperation they have accepted that without a radical change of approach the bill will fall because of the delays it is experiencing in the House of Lords."

"Falconer said the public and the Commons demanded a proper parliamentary decision was made on the issue. If opponents think this issue will just go away if it is talked out in the Lords then they are wrong. It will continue to demand parliamentary action until it is resolved, he told the Guardian. Falconer said he hoped there would be a change of approach in the Lords to allow it to move to a vote in the upper house. He said: That is what should happen and that continues to be my aim. However, because the Lords is a self-regulating chamber there is no mechanism to prevent a small minority of peers frustrating the will of the majority who want to see the bill progress through all its stages."

Supporters of assisted dying plan to use the 1911 Parliament Act to force a Commons-passed bill through if the House of Lords continues to delay it. The move, labeled by some backers as the "nuclear option," would be the first time the act is applied to a private member's bill. Backers say extensive legal and constitutional advice shows they can compel peers to vote on the bill unamended in the next session. Opponents describe the Lords' delays as proper scrutiny rather than filibuster. The escalation risks provoking strong opposition and highlights tensions between Commons majorities and Lords procedures.

Read at www.theguardian.com