UK Government under scrutiny over Manx assisted dying legislation

David Lammy has still not made a recommendation that royal assent be granted

The MHK behind the Manx Assisted Dying Bill has urged the UK Government to respect the Island's 'independence and autonomy' when it comes to granting royal assent.

Despite the bill being approved in March last year, it is still yet to receive the mark of approval from Westminster.

The UK press is reporting the findings of a Freedom of Information (FOI) request by the Press Association (PA), which shows the Ministry of Justice has written to the Isle of Man Government about the bill 12 times.

Correspondence of this amount regarding our legislation is largely unheard of.

A request for information on the contents of some of the correspondence, sent between October and December, was declined on the basis that it 'could represent a breach of confidentiality and potentially negatively impact the UK Government’s relationship with the Isle of Man Government and the other Crown Dependencies'.

Due to the Island's Crown Dependency status, the UK's Lord Chancellor - currently David Lammy - is required to make a recommendation that royal assent be granted.

Ordinarily, legislation receives the royal assent within three to six months, and Dr Alex Allinson has described the delay as 'frustrating'.

Dr Allinson told PA: "Twelve questions is relatively unheard of for a bill and this sort of delay is extremely unusual with something that’s been passed through our parliament."

He said he is “considering approaching the Ministry of Justice directly in terms of any further questions they have that is delaying royal assent being granted”.

Under the provisions in the Assisted Dying Bill 2023, eligible adults over the age of 18 with a prognosis of 12 months or less to live - who have lived on the Isle of Man for at least five years - will be given the right to choose to die.

The news regarding the Manx bill comes as the peer steering UK assisted dying legislation through the House of Lords has been spelling out why it’s in real danger of running out of time.

Here's former Justice Secretary Lord Falconer:

Lord Falconer is accusing some the bill's opponents of tabling a thousand amendments with the aim of running the clock down.

But they insist they're providing proper scrutiny of a highly controversial issue for England and Wales.

Others are threatening to use the Parliament Act to bypass the Lords.