A parliamentary bill that would unleash medically assisted suicide on England and Wales might not be implemented for another four years amid growing concerns about the proposed system.

It was originally thought that the bill might take two years to implement, but Member of Parliament (MP) Kim Leadbeater, sponsor of the bill, said the delay might be as long as four.

Her spokesperson said the bill now contains even stronger safeguards than when it was first tabled, with a new judge-led voluntary assisted dying commission and multidisciplinary panels to examine every application and this would delay the process.

However, the bill has been mired in controversy with prominent media outlets calling for it to be abandoned.

The Times editorialised: “The thankless task of scrutinising this sinister and half-baked proposal has fallen to a few brave MPs on the committee … Thanks to them its flaws have been fatally exposed. It remains only to administer the coup de grace and kill this bill.”