👎DISCREDITED ASSISTED SUICIDE BILL RETURNS, AMIDST PREDICTIONS OF DEFEAT

Ignoring pleas from fellow MPs and warnings from Royal Colleges & disability and domestic abuse charities, Lauren Edwards has defied Andy Burnham’s concerns by reintroducing the assisted suicide Bill.🧵 1/ The new Bill is likely to blow up any attempted Labour reset in the coming days under current or new leadership. It is difficult to think of anything more unwelcome, divisive or distracting than bringing back a Bill that is widely opposed by experts & vulnerable groups. 2/

🚨BREAKING: MPs WHO BACKED ASSISTED SUICIDE OPPOSE USE OF PARLIAMENT ACT!

In a major blow to Kim Leadbeater’s plans to revive her assisted suicide Bill, four MPs who had backed her Bill have said they do not support her plan to force it into law via the Parliament Act.🧵1/ Ahead of Thursday’s Private Members’ Bill ballot, when Leadbeater hopes an MP will reintroduce her Bill, MPs from Labour, the Conservatives & Liberal Democrats who voted for assisted suicide have all said they would oppose using the Parliament Act. 2/

🚨BREAKING: 79 MPs & Peers ask Home & Health Secretaries to delay introduction of self-induced abortion up to birth!

The below cross-party letter sets out unanswered questions concerning the proposals & calls on the ministers to “hit pause” until these have been considered.🧵1/

https://twitter.com/DominicPenna/status/2036830183068409926

Signatories to the letter to Shabana Mahmood & Wes Streeting include 2 Shadow Cabinet members, 8 Labour MPs, all 8 Reform MPs, a former President of the BMA, former leader & deputy leaders of the Liberal Democrats, a former Home Secretary & the previous Attorney General. 2/

💔BREAKING: On a sad & shameful day for our nation, the House of Lords has just voted to allow abortion UP TO BIRTH to be introduced into law. This extreme proposal will endanger women & threaten the lives of viable unborn babies.🧵1/ This radical law change passed after just 46 minutes of backbench debate in the Commons and a late-night debate in the Lords as the Government sought to rush through the final clauses of its Crime and Policing Bill ahead of the end of the parliamentary session. 2/

🚨BREAKING: “A NATIONAL TRAGEDY & SCANDAL” - 300,000 ABORTED BABIES IN ONE YEAR in the UK.

Today, the 2023 abortion statistics have been released, revealing a new record number of abortions: an estimated 299,614 across the UK. This is a national tragedy & national scandal. 🧵1/ Today’s numbers relate to England & Wales where 278,740 abortions took place in 2023, a 10.6% increase from 2022. Whatever one’s view of abortion, this scale of lost lives is devastating. It is time for a national conversation about our abortion laws and culture. 2/

🚨A GOOD DAY TO BURY IMPARTIALITY?! This afternoon, while Westminster was distracted by the Budget, the Government has announced it is creating an additional SEVEN sitting Fridays in the new year for the assisted suicide Bill, in addition to the three already announced. 🧵1/ This is highly irregular. Normally there is one House of Lords sitting Friday per month but Peers will now be forced to meet EVERY Friday in January after the Christmas break & on most other Fridays before Easter, including 27 March when the House was supposed to be in recess. 2/

🚨BREAKING: Kim Leadbeater refuses to distance herself from Sarco suicide pods. After an MP tabled an amendment to her Bill to ban the use of the portable gas chambers - after their inventor stated he wants to bring them to the UK - she declined to back the amendment. 🧵1/ Experts have confirmed the suicide pods could be eligible under Leadbeater’s Bill. Dr Philip Nitschke, dubbed Dr Death, announced last year that he wishes to bring his gas pods to the UK 2/

telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/11/2…

🚨BREAKING: As reported by @GregHeffer Kim Leadbeater misled MPs in an email on Sunday night. Writing to MPs, she cited a survey to claim that support for assisted suicide has remained stable since Second Reading. But the survey was completed a month before Second Reading. 🧵1/ In her email to all MPs, Leadbeater claimed a British Social Attitudes survey showed “public support for assisted dying remains high and stable following Second Reading” on 29 November. However, fieldwork for the survey was conducted between 16 September and 27 October. 2/

🧵EXCLUSIVE: Dignity in Dying, the pressure group behind the assisted suicide Bill, has secretly changed its position since Second Reading of the Bill. Demonstrating its own slippery slope, it has disowned 2 key safeguards & now supports an expanded law, including euthanasia. 1/ This week Dignity in Dying was championing the Isle of Man assisted suicide Bill. Its CEO flew to the island to campaign for the Bill even though it allows assisted suicide for people with a whole year left to live, double the limit the group claims to support in Westminster. 2/

Kim Leadbeater flat out denies she’s said her law is based on Oregon. Yet, here’s what she said in October:
🧵1/
🧵2/ Here is the website of Dignity in Dying, the organisation behind Leadbeater’s Bill, on the day of Second Reading of the Bill:

BREAKING: High Court judge ‘safeguard’ officially scrapped as Kim Leadbeater tables amendment to replace it with a watered-down panel.

The Bill’s missed judge makes the whole Bill misjudged.

Why does this matter? A 🧵1/ At Second Reading, Kim Leadbeater promised “a thorough and robust process involving… a High Court judge.” It was on this basis she told MPs “no other jurisdiction in the world has those layers of safeguarding.” 2/

The Abortion (Northern Ireland) (No. 2) Regulations 2020 (S.I, 2020, No. 503) debate has just started in the First Delegated Legislation Committee. The debate can be listened to here - parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/7f…

Or events can be followed in our live-tweet thread 👇 Ian Paisley MP asks why major constitutional changes are being pushed through in a Committee which is not televised, and only allows for limited debate.