We wanted to share an important update on the campaign to defeat Kim Leadbeater’s assisted suicide Bill.
This is a little longer than my usual emails, but it’s really important that you read it so you are aware of exactly what the situation is now and what you need to do to ensure this dangerous Bill is defeated.
As we mentioned in our last update, Committee Stage of the Bill ended very late on Tuesday night last week.
From here, the first day of Report Stage for the Bill will take place on 25 April – which is now only 23 days away – and will be held in the main House of Commons chamber, where all MPs can bring forward and vote on amendments.
How these votes go will likely have a significant impact on whether the Bill is defeated later on, so it’s vital that you mobilise and contact your MP before 25 April.
After Report Stage, Kim Leadbeater will either hold the final Third Reading vote on 25 April or spread Report Stage across two days (25 April and 16 May) before a final vote on 16 May. Although we expect her to opt for two days, nothing is confirmed yet.
We will keep you updated and let you know as soon as anything is confirmed, but at this stage, the main focus is ensuring we get as many emails and in-person visits to MPs as possible before 25 April.
EXTENDED IMPLEMENTATION HAS NOT STOPPED THE BILL
The end of Committee Stage coincided with news that the Government had forced Kim Leadbeater to commit to extending the implementation period for a potential law on assisted suicide to a maximum of four years, rather than two years.
Some of you have been in contact to ask whether the extended implementation means that the Bill is not going to become law. It’s really important that all of you know that this is not the case.
We still face a battle, but a very winnable battle (as we cover further below), to defeat this Bill.
While this may mean that the implementation period will likely be longer, Kim Leadbeater is still pressing ahead with taking her Bill forward, and she can still pass her Bill into law, albeit with an extended implementation period.
Where this extended implementation period may help us defeat the Bill at Third Reading is that it is possible that assisted suicide will now continue to be an issue right up to the 2029 General Election. Most MPs are not going to want to be dealing with this issue running up to an election, so a scenario where the Bill is defeated at Third Reading will now be more appealing to wavering MPs who have previously supported the Bill.
So this development is likely a positive, but it’s really important that you know that this fight is not over. Leadbeater’s Bill can still become law. We must not let our guard down.
BUT I DON’T NEED TO EMAIL MY MP BECAUSE…
Some of you have asked if there’s any point in contacting your MP. We want to explain why it’s incredibly important that you still contact your MP regardless of their past votes or statements on this issue. Even if you have contacted your MP multiple times on this issue, each email tool we ask you to use has new content that is vital for MPs to read.
…MY MP IS PRO-ASSISTED SUICIDE:
Some of the most supportive pro-life MPs we have worked with over the years started as the most staunch opponents. Even if your MP is publicly appearing to be very pro-assisted suicide, you can never know what private doubts they might have. Your email or meeting with that MP could be the deciding factor that convinces them to vote with us.
And even if they’re not quite ready to oppose the Bill outright, they might already be unsure about their pro-assisted suicide stance and choose to abstain rather than risk alienating the many constituents who’ve been in touch.
…MY MP NEVER REPLIES:
You may have an MP who you never hear back from. Please don’t think that this means that your emails make no difference. They do! We have spoken to MPs who have not replied to emails from constituents on this issue but said that correspondence from constituents impacted how they voted.
…MY MP IS ALREADY ONSIDE:
Finally, some of you have MPs who always vote pro-life and have asked whether you still need to engage with them. It’s still vital that you contact them. For example, they may have a diary clash that you don’t know about and are currently not planning to attend, so emails from constituents may cause them to change their mind and attend the vote. We have seen this happen many times before.
Even if they are pro-life and plan to attend, it’s so important that you still contact them. This will ensure they know they have a strong base of people in their constituency who support their position on this.
This will also help put this issue on the radar for them and encourage them to be more active in ensuring the Bill is defeated by actively speaking to colleagues who are wavering and taking other actions to help move more MPs to vote against this Bill.
Every email, letter, call or meeting with an MP counts.
Your MP needs to hear from you.
A CLEAR PATH TO VICTORY
With Committee Stage now over, the spotlight turns to the 650 MPs who will decide if this Bill becomes law. These next 23 days, and how effectively we mobilise to contact local MPs, will play a huge part in determining whether this dangerous Bill is passed or defeated.
The margin at the last vote was 55, which means just 28 MPs switching their stance would be enough to ensure it fails at Third Reading.
Our team here have spoken to a number of MPs, who say, based on their conversations with other colleagues, that this is very much winnable. However, they have emphasised that it comes down, in a big part, to how much pressure MPs get from their constituents to vote the right way.
If everyone reading this email takes action, we are confident we can win. But every single one of you must act.
We cannot emphasise enough how important it is that you take action over these final days to ensure your local MP votes the right way on 25 April.
Every MP needs to see that the overwhelming majority of emails, letters, meetings and calls they receive are from those who oppose the Bill.
The only way this can happen is by you taking action.
We are going to be updating you again again over these next 23 days. Please readevery update and follow through on any action steps we suggest – this is vitally important.
Thank you for everything you have done to get us to where we are now.
We are in the final sprint.
With your hard work over the next 23 days, we can make sure this Bill is defeated and prevent tens of thousands of lives from being put at risk in the years to come.