Press release – Despite major backlash, Leadbeater goes ahead with scrapping centrepiece High Court safeguard from assisted suicide Bill

PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Press release – Despite major backlash, Leadbeater goes ahead with scrapping centrepiece High Court safeguard from assisted suicide Bill

12 March 2025 – Despite facing a major backlash against proposals to remove the centrepiece High Court safeguard from her assisted suicide Bill, Kim Leadbeater has this afternoon proceeded to remove this flagship safeguard, by joining colleagues in voting to successfully remove the Court approval Clause (12) in the Bill.

In the build-up to the vote in November, Leadbeater boasted her Bill has “the strictest safeguards anywhere in the world”, highlighting the High Court judge safeguard as evidence for this. This provision in the Bill was repeatedly positioned by Leadbeater and her allies as a key component of the Bill.

After earlier definitively telling The Times that she would not scrap the centrepiece High Court judge safeguard in her Bill, at 10pm the night before the first day of line-by-line scrutiny, after MPs had returned to their constituencies for the February recess, Kim Leadbeater announced that she would be tabling an amendment to scrap the “safeguard” in the Bill that required a High Court judge to approve assisted suicide applications.

Leadbeater attempted to position the replacement as “Judge Plus” and was resoundingly criticised for using what many saw as a deeply misleading term.

Replaced with ‘death panels’

Leadbeater has proposed that the flagship High Court safeguard will be replaced by what has been labelled by media outlets as a ‘death tzar’ who will oversee panels, dubbed the ‘death panels’, that will include a more junior legal figure, a social worker and a psychiatrist.

Legal experts have been very critical of the new plan, highlighting several major issues with the new proposed replacement.

Including a social worker and psychiatrist on the panel will take them away from their frontline work in areas where there are already major shortages. 

In January, the Royal College of Psychiatrists revealed that 1.6 million people are waiting for mental health care, where early treatment is often essential and some people are waiting for two years or more for mental health appointments. 

A British Association of Social Workers’ survey in 2023 found “adequacy of staffing levels” and “workload demand” amongst the greatest challenges faced by social workers.

Major backlash

Since the announcement that Leadbeater would scrap this key “safeguard” in her Bill, five major national newspapers – The Independent, The Times, The Telegraph, the Daily Mail and The Sun – have run editorials that raise serious concerns about the removal of the High Court safeguard.

These major newspapers have been joined by dozens of prominent media commentators and experts who have come out against the Bill (see some of this media coverage listed below this press release). 

Bill in danger

The Independent reported that, during the Second Reading debate, 60 MPs identified the High Court judge safeguard as an important reason for their support, with a further 20 pointing to the necessity of “judicial oversight”. 

A number of MPs who supported the Bill have indicated to The Times that they are having second thoughts about voting for the Bill at Third Reading.

With the vote passing at Second Reading by a margin of 55, just 28 MPs switching their stance to oppose the Bill would ensure it is defeated at Third Reading.

One Lib Dem MP who voted for the Bill in November said the safeguard was identified “countless times”, saying “One of the most important things to me when I voted for the bill was the inclusion of a High Court judge and during the debate, that was used countless times to allay our concerns”. He added “I need to look my constituents in the eye and tell them that the safeguards are still there, and now I’m not sure I’m there”.

Lib Dem MP Alistair Carmichael, a former minister who voted for the Bill, commented that he was no longer sure about voting in favour at Third Reading, and he would need to “give it some thought”. Another former minister, Sir David Davis, also said he would study the revised proposals before coming to a decision.

Spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson, said:

“Only a few months ago, Kim Leadbeater touted her Bill as having the ‘strictest safeguards in the world’, with the centrepiece safeguard in the Bill being the High Court provision.”

“Despite a major backlash, Leadbeater has now astonishingly gone ahead and scrapped this centrepiece safeguard in her Bill. She has removed the very provision that 60 MPs identified as a key reason for their support at Second Reading.”

“This dangerous Bill would place thousands of vulnerable people at risk in the coming years if it is passed. Just 28 MPs changing their stance to oppose the Bill would ensure it is defeated at Third Reading. We must now see this Bill defeated.”

ENDS 

• For additional quotes and media interviews contact 07774 483 658 or email press@righttolife.org.uk 
• For further information on Right To Life UK visit www.righttolife.org.uk 

Examples of media coverage covering the backlash against scrapping the flagship safeguard along with other recent media coverage:

• The Spectator – Assisted dying bill could see ‘death czar’ judge cases
• Spiked – The assisted-dying bill is unravelling before our eyes
• The Guardian – Plan to scrap high court signoff for assisted dying sends bill in ‘wrong direction’, say MPs 
• Guido Fawkes – Leadbeater Facing Backlash Over “Death Czar” Outrage 
• The Times – ‘Death tsar’ proposal energises opponents of assisted dying bill
• The Times – Future of assisted dying bill in ‘jeopardy’ as MPs waver on support
• The Spectator – Six times Leadbeater promised a high court judge safeguard  
• The Mail – Social workers to sit on ‘death panels’ in Labour MPs watered-down assisted dying Bill
• The Telegraph – Assisted dying’s safeguards were always a sham – Madeline Grant
• UnHerd – Removed safeguard imperils UK assisted dying bill
• The Mail – Critics warn assisted dying law safeguards ‘collapsing’ after Labour MP drops High Court approval 
• Spiked – The assisted-dying bill must be put out of its misery 
• The Independent – First MPs U-turn on support for assisted dying bill after High Court judge safeguard removed 
• LBC – Leadbeater’s high court U-turn is just the beginning. We must ditch the assisted dying bill before it spirals out of control
• The Canary – Leadbeater’s latest assisted dying U-turn could give Starmer a run for his money – and harm just as many disabled people 
• The Independent – 80 MPs who supported assisted dying bill could turn against it with High Court judge safeguard removed
• The Spectator – BMA consultants sound alarm on assisted dying 
• The Critic Magazine – Committee says no – Dr Cajetan Skowronski
• The Spectator – Assisted dying panel rejects Down’s Syndrome safeguard 
• The Independent – Tory MP attempts to gag criticism of assisted dying committee after Down Syndrome vote 
• GB News – Imagine your frightened mother is given a terminal diagnosis and her doctor suggests ending her life – we must stop this – Miriam Cates 
• The Spectator – What would George Orwell make of the assisted dying debate? 
• The Times – As an anorexic, I’d have longed for assisted dying  
• The Telegraph – Anorexia sufferers could access assisted dying after MPs refuse to close Bill loophole 
• Conservative Home – Alexander Stafford: The Assisted Dying Bill deeply flawed – and its sponsor is refusing to listen
• The Critic Magazine – The wheels are falling off Leadbeater’s Bill – Tom Hunt 
• The Spectator – Assisted dying committee votes down palliative amendment
• The Guardian – Legalising assisted dying in England and Wales ‘may hamper suicide prevention work’ 
• The Telegraph – Kim Leadbeater can’t rule out patients choosing assisted dying to save money 
• The Critic Magazine – Palliative Care will suffer under assisted suicide – Dr Cajetan Skowronski
• The Telegraph – Depressed people who are terminally ill could be eligible for assisted dying
• The Spectator – My false diagnosis exposes a key flaw in the Assisted Dying Bill – Peter Sefton-Williams
• The Critic Magazine – Stacking the deck – Tom Hunt
• The Spectator – Eleven lowlights from the assisted dying evidence session
• The Times – ‘The doctors got it wrong … I would have killed myself and I wasn’t ill’
• The Mail – I signed up to Dignitas when doctors told me I would be dead from MND in six months but they were wrong – and that’s why I’m against assisted dying
• GB News – Peter Sefton-Williams left ‘mentally traumatised’ by doctor after misdiagnosis of Motor Neurone Disease: ‘I could have died on the basis of an error’
• MSN – Man recalls being told by doctor to ‘not make any plans past six months’ after misdiagnosis
• MSN – Peter Sefton-Williams left ‘mentally traumatised’ by doctor after misdiagnosis of Motor Neurone Disease: ‘I could have died on the basis of an error’ 
• The Mail – Andrew Pierce – A whiff of bias and a troubling cloak of secrecy being thrown around vital scrutiny of the momentous Bill to legalise assisted dying
• Spiked – Tom Hunt – The great assisted-suicide stitch-up
• Conservative Home  – John Hayes: How can Leadbeater be so confident that Britain will swerve the assisted dying slippery slope?
• The Critic – A question of killing | Fleur Elizabeth Meston
• GB News – Tom Hunt says MPs who are concerned about the assisted dying bill are being shut out of the consultation process
• The Telegraph – Madeline Grant – Parliament: where uncomfortable truths are ushered into a Leadbeater suicide pod
• Spiked – The assisted-dying bill brings shame on parliament 
• The Times – Assisted dying bill may drop need for High Court judge’s approval
• The Telegraph – Terminally ill ‘do not have free choice’ on assisted dying
• The Telegraph – Terminally ill could choose assisted dying over lack of palliative care, admits nursing chief
• The Independent – Nursing leaders admit patients could choose assisted dying due to poor palliative care
• Times Radio – ‘Right to die’ must not become a duty, says former home secretary
• Times Radio – James Cleverly
• The Independent – Diabetic MP’s bid to ensure her condition is not included as cause for assisted death
• The Guardian – Assisted dying bill amendment aims to close potential ‘anorexia loophole’
• The Telegraph – Assisted dying row as patients given six months to live often survive for three years
• The Mail – Kim Leadbeater wins bid for private vote to pick expert witnesses for House of Commons committee scrutinising assisted dying bill
• The Yorkshire Post – Assisted dying bill: The right to die cannot be contained as Canada’s experience shows – Miriam Cates