Assisted dying bill ‘filibustered’ by Lords peers, Baroness Gerada tells Pulse LIVE

Exclusive The House of Lords has ‘filibustered’ the assisted dying bill, but the debate will come back, former RCGP chair and now-peer Baroness Gerada of Kennington has told Pulse.

Baroness Gerada, who was appointed to the House of Lords in October in recognition of her service to medicine and mental health, was interviewed by Pulse editor Sofia Lind today at our conference currently taking place in London.

The non-party-political cross bench peer said that some opponents of the bill called it ‘assisted suicide’ and ‘state murder’, which she said was ‘absolutely dreadful’.

Her comments come after the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill ran out of time in the House of Lords last week, and will not become law in England and Wales.

After passing in the House of Commons last year, the bill faced delays in the House of Lords due to more 1,200 amendments preventing it from progressing.

Since becoming a peer, Baroness Gerada has been vocal about her frustration over the slow progress of the assisted dying bill in the House of Lords.

Speaking at Pulse LIVE London this morning, she said that the final debate on the bill on Friday last week was ‘the most extraordinary event’ and that she believes that while the bill was ‘filibustered’, it will come back.

Baroness Gerada said: ‘They [the peers] have filibustered it. I’m sorry – if it feels like an elephant, smells like an elephant, sounds like an elephant, it’s an elephant. It is filibustering.’

‘The ones against it, they kept referring to it as assisted suicide, and one even called it state murder.

‘It was dreadful, absolutely dreadful. And looking after people who have been bereaved following suicide of a loved one, I found this appalling.’

She added: ‘And we looked at evidence. I interviewed some people from Australia and their system – it’s humane. It really is humane if you choose to want to die.’

The south London GP said that those in favour of the bill were told ‘not to speak’, as it would ‘just prolong’ the debate, which lasted a total of 14 days.

She said: ‘You’re only meant to speak for two or three minutes, by the way, and we were told not to say anything, because it just seemed that in the second reading, which is what this was, you really are only meant to speak for one or two minutes, and they were speaking for 10 to 15 minutes per speech.

‘But we were told, those in favour, not to speak because it just prolonged it. Until the last day, which was last Friday.

‘And if any of you watched it, it was the most extraordinary event, because people were giving their personal testimonies of loved ones dying, of being present at the moment of death, of why they wanted assisted death, even ones that were against assisted dying.’

However, she added that she thinks the bill will make a return.

‘[And] then I think it will pass through,’ she said. ‘My worry is it becomes so bureaucratic that actually it will be almost unworkable.’

More coverage from the interview with Baroness Gerada will feature on Pulse in the coming week, on topics including continuity of care and online consultations, on our website and on the Pulse in Focus podcast.

The free-to-attend Pulse LIVE London conference, worth up to nine CPD points, takes place today and tomorrow (28-29 April) at the Business Design Centre in Islington.

The clinical agenda includes: AI in obesity management, urology, PCOS, proactive frailty management and more. The full agenda can be found here.

The Pulse LIVE roadshow will be travelling across the country throughout 2026, with events in Birmingham, Newcastle, Cardiff, Glasgow, Belfast and Liverpool.

Discover our programme of free, CPD-accredited events – delivered face-to-face and online – designed to bring you practical clinical updates and expert-led sessions. Book your free place today and join us in person or virtually.