Leaked document raises assisted suicide questions

Labour has been accused of a “shadow policy-making process” to influence assisted dying legislation after a document was leaked, leading to accusations that the government misled Parliament and voters.

According to a Guardian report, a leaked policy document suggested that before the general election, Labour planned to introduce assisted suicide by a Private Members’ bill (PMB), similar to the bill going through parliament.

The document said a government bill would be riskier with Labour taking an official stance; but a PMB could be “influenced heavily … if we are lending government support”.

The document said: “We also know we can control the parameters of legislation carefully through working with advocacy groups and government civil servants to draft the legislation and provide conditions for parliamentary time.”

The government is officially neutral on the issue, but a Labour source opposed to the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill told the Guardian that the leak exposed “a shadow policymaking process, outside of the Labour manifesto”.

Alisdair Hungerford-Morgan of Right To Life UK said: “If these reports are true, the government has misled MPs, peers and the public about the bill. The bill must be withdrawn immediately, as it constitutes an abuse of parliamentary process for the government to use a Private Members’ bill to push through its own agenda, while claiming neutrality.

“Voters were not told that voting Labour would mean voting for a government-backed assisted suicide law”.

The bill is working its way through committee stage in the House of Lords, but more than 1,000 amendments have been tabled. It could fall through because of delays and lack of time, though an extra ten days has been allocated (taking it to 24 April 2026).