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Today in Parliament

14/11/2025

Today in Parliament

BBC

Government

4.4162 Ratings

🗓️ 14 November 2025

⏱️ 28 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Alicia McCarthy reports from Westminster as peers warn that they could run out of time to debate the Assisted Dying bill.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts.

0:06.1

Order. Order.

0:08.7

Hello there, I'm Alicia McCarthy, and this is the Today in Parliament podcast for BBC Radio 4 for Friday the 14th of November, where peers begin their in-depth scrutiny of the assisted dying bill.

0:20.6

But with hundreds of proposed changes to debate,

0:23.1

there are concerns they won't get the job done.

0:25.7

It would be enormously damaging to the reputation of this House

0:29.4

if we're unable because of timing to do that task.

0:33.6

Also on this programme, as an MP calls for a new scheme to root out rogue builders, one victim says she was left thousands of pounds out of pocket.

0:42.6

There's no protection. It is like playing Russian roulette. If you want work done on your house, just pick someone. It's like a lucky deal.

0:51.4

And peers hear about the struggling state of some of our forensic science services.

0:56.5

We used to be world leading, but we're certainly not now. In fact, now the issue is, are we going to

1:02.2

survive? But first, the government has been urged to give peers more time to debate a law that would

1:08.0

allow assisted dying in England and Wales. The legislation is currently

1:12.6

undergoing clause-by-claw's scrutiny in the House of Lords, but peers have put forward more than

1:17.9

900 proposed changes to the termly ill adults' end-of-life bill. Under the proposals, an adult over 18

1:26.0

with less than six months to live would be able to ask for help to end their life.

1:30.8

That request would have to be approved by two doctors and a panel made up of a social worker, senior legal figure and a psychiatrist.

1:38.9

The bill has been put forward not by the government but by the Labour MP Kim Ledbetter.

1:46.3

A non-affiliated peer, Lord Tyree,

1:50.6

said he supported its intentions, but thought it was time for ministers to take it on. What concerns me is that we are now going to try and improve a bill which has demonstrably flawed

1:58.0

with 900 amendments, many of which seem to make sense to me, on the floor of the

2:05.0

House between now and Christmas.

...

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