Jersey approves assisted dying bill – but it could scrapped in the UK

Jersey in the Channel Islands has become the second part of the British Isles to legalise assisted dying, after a landslide vote in its legislature.

But the landmark move comes as it emerges that the push to do the same in the UK is almost certain to fail – despite MPs backing it last summer.

The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, led by labor MP Kim Leadbeater, has not been granted more time for debate in the House of Lords.

Unless peers can come to an agreement on hundreds of amendments before the King’s Speech in May – while only being able to tackle the bill on one day each week – the whole process will start from scratch.

Dame Esther Rantzen, a prominent campaigner for assisted dying, described the move as ‘absolute blatant sabotage’.

She told Sky News: ‘This is a handful of peers putting down 1,200 amendments not to scrutinise the bill, which is their job, but to block it.

‘A few peers for their own reasons have decided that they’re going to stop this going through parliament, and the only way to stop them would be to invoke the Parliament Act, which has happened before, or get rid of the House of Lords – they’re clearly not fit for purpose.’

The Isle of Man voted to approve the legalisation of assisted dying in March last year, becoming the first part of the British Isles to do so.

After three days of debate, Jersey’s state assembly members voted to follow them today by a margin of 32 to 16.

They had previously voted in May 2024 to begin drawing up laws for an assisted dying service.

However, there are questions over how long it might take for these efforts to be given the official go-ahead from the British government.

As Crown Dependencies, both the Isle of Man and Jersey need on a recommendation from the Lord Chancellor – currently David Lammy – before their bills can get royal assent and formally become law.

The Ministry of Justice still has not begun that process for the Isle of Man’s assisted dying legislation after 338 days.

According to the PA news agency, it has taken an average of 88 days for the process to start since the beginning of 2020, meaning the current delay is almost four times longer.

Meanwhile, the Welsh Senedd voted this week in favour of implementing the assisted dying bill from the UK Parliament if it becomes law.

The move would prevent a situation where terminally ill people need to cross the border to England if they wish to end their lives.

It was a much closer margin than Jersey’s, with 28 voting for and 23 voting against with two abstentions. First Minister Eluned Morgan was among those who voted against.

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