Labour MP bringing back assisted dying bill urges House of Lords to finish its job

Lauren Edwards dismisses party internal concerns and criticises ‘anti-democratic’ way bill was halted

The Labour MP Lauren Edwards who will bring the assisted dying bill back to the Commons has said she will not be dissuaded by concerns about Labour divisions, saying MPs should allow the House of Lords to finish its work on the bill after it was blocked from a vote by peers.

It also can be revealed that the Labour MP and disability rights campaigner Marie Tidball is to co-sponsor the bill, alongside the former minister Alex Davies- Jones.

Lauren Edwards, the MP for Rochester and Strood, said she was motivated primarily by the “anti-democratic” way the terminally ill adults bill had been halted in the Lords after being passed by the Commons.

“I’m a proud Labour MP, I’ve got a huge trade union background, I have always been Labour, I will die Labour, but I can’t be in a position of saying: ‘I’m not going to do this because it might be a little bit tricky for the parliamentary Labour party,’” Edwards said, in a pointed address to critics who have expressed concern about the division at a time of great party turmoil.

“My role as a member of parliament is to do what I think is right for my constituents and what I think is right for the country, and that’s why I’m pursuing this.”

The bill ran out of time to pass the upper house, after more than 1,000 amendments were submitted by opponents who say the bill is flawed.

Edwards told the Guardian she had disengaged from all social media shortly after becoming an MP and would not be swayed by opposition campaigners who have mobilised significantly online.