Concern over ‘deeply worrying’ omission of disabled people from Lords assisted dying committee

Campaigners say it is “deeply worrying” that there does not appear to have been a single disabled peer appointed to a new House of Lords committee set up to consider proposed new laws that will legalise assisted dying.

Peers this week agreed the 13 cross-party members of a select committee that will consider the “safeguards and procedures” contained in the terminally ill adults (end of life) bill.

The committee includes four Labour peers, three Conservatives, two Liberal Democrats, three crossbenchers, and one bishop.

It includes Labour’s Baroness [Luciana] Berger, whose amendment to the bill led last month to peers agreeing to set up the committee.

It also includes Baroness Finlay, a crossbench peer and consultant in palliative medicine, a  prominent opponent of legalisation; Lord Hope, another crossbencher and former deputy president of the Supreme Court, who is chairing the committee*; the Labour peer Baroness Scotland, former secretary-general of the Commonwealth; Lord [Robert] Winston, a Labour peer and pioneering fertility scientist and TV presenter; and Conservative peer Lord [Nick] Markham, a non-executive director and board member of the Department for Work and Pensions between 2013 and 2022.

The committee is likely to take oral evidence from professional bodies, ministers, and those with professional experience of inquests, and will report back to the House of Lords by 7 November.

About two-thirds of peers who spoke last month during the second reading of the bill – which has already been approved by MPs – suggested they were opposed to the legislation as it stood.

Yesterday (Wednesday), Not Dead Yet UK, the disabled people’s grassroots group which sees legalisation of assisted suicide and euthanasia as “deadly forms of disability discrimination”, raised concerns about the apparent failure of the House of Lords to include anyone who identified as disabled on the committee.

Phil Friend, NDY UK’s convener, said it was “deeply worrying that there appear to be no disabled people” on the select committee.

He said: “Disabled people will be among those most affected, yet once again our voices are missing from the table.

“Without lived experience, the committee risks overlooking the realities of subtle coercion and the daily pressures caused by inadequate care and support.

“Disabled people must be included in shaping any discussion of a law that could so profoundly affect our lives.”

But disabled crossbench peer Baroness [Tanni] Grey-Thompson, who has campaigned against legalisation for more than a decade, said she was not concerned with the committee’s membership.

She said she had decided not to nominate herself for a place on the committee so she could work on amendments to the bill.

She said she had worked with many of the committee members and believed “that they understand the issues within the remit of the committee”.

She added: “It is there to only take evidence not to comment on it.

“I will be closely looking at those who are going to be invited to give evidence to make sure that disabled people are represented in the evidence that is provided.”

A spokesperson for the House of Lords said in a statement: “The membership of the committee on the terminally ill adults bill was agreed by the house in the usual way.

“Its make-up reflects a diverse and balanced range of views on the bill and balance between parties and groups in the house.

“The committee’s role is to gather evidence on the safeguards and procedures contained in the bill.

“It will hear evidence from organisations with a wide range of views.

“It will then make that evidence available to inform the house’s scrutiny of the bill but will not make recommendations.

“The house’s further scrutiny of the bill at committee and report stage will be conducted by the whole house and all members will be able to take part.”

*Due to an error by Hansard, the story originally stated that Lord Markham was chairing the committee

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