House of Lords’ block on assisted dying bill is a big risk

Pro-assisted dying campaigners outside the Houses of Parliament on 12 September ahead of the assisted dying bill being debated in the House of Lords for the first time. Photograph: Aaron Chown/PA

When visitors come to parliament, it seems incongruous to explain that, in our mother of parliaments, we have a second chamber – the House of Lords – which is unelected. Those who support its existence in its current or similar form justify it on the grounds that it performs a useful revising function which can improve the detail of legislation, and it undoubtedly does good work.

But the fact that it is unelected can only be tolerated in a democracy provided its members accept that it is for the House of Commons to have the last word on what becomes law and what doesn’t in this country.