Contributions
1,183 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Twenty-third sitting)I look forward to hearing the hon. Member’s substantive remarks, but in explanation I should say that there are no safeguards that I think will make an assisted dying Bill…12 Mar 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Twenty-third sitting)Let us not rehash the argument about whether there is a difference between withdrawing treatment and actively killing somebody or giving them the opportunity to kill themselves.…12 Mar 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Twenty-third sitting)The hon. Gentleman is making an important point and I completely agree. Does he agree that the hon. Member for Spen Valley recognised the problems with the lack of a…12 Mar 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Twenty-third sitting)I just want to support the hon. Member for Bradford West. She is absolutely right. It is clearly intended that there should be a unanimous decision but, in fact, as the hon. Lady…12 Mar 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Twenty-third sitting)I appreciate that an impact assessment is due to come later, after we have debated whether we should have this system or not. Nevertheless, will the Minister tell the Committee…12 Mar 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Twenty-third sitting)I appreciate the Minister’s point about the Parole Board. Does she acknowledge that in the Parole Board example there is the essence of an adversarial system, because the victim…12 Mar 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Twenty-third sitting)I would be grateful for the Minister’s advice on whether she thinks a family member will always have standing. I appreciate her point that it will be for the panel to consider,…12 Mar 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Twenty-third sitting)I am sorry to report that my mother could not hear a word of the proceedings. I am exaggerating, but she grumbled about the mumbling, which is a lesson for us all.12 Mar 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Twenty-second sitting)It was helpful to hear the Bill’s promoter suggest that the system will be inquisitorial—that is not sufficiently apparent in the new clause, as my hon. Friend the Member for…12 Mar 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Twenty-second sitting)This is a very helpful exchange, for which I am grateful to my hon. Friend. In response to the hon. Member for Rother Valley, does my hon. Friend agree that although there should…12 Mar 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Twenty-second sitting)The scenario that my right hon. Friend the Member for North West Hampshire suggests implies that the patient has no faith in the panel. The patient would be concluding that they…12 Mar 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Twenty-second sitting)Before the hon. Gentleman moves on, I want to reiterate the value of his point. This is an enormous change to the Bill and totally transforms it, but we did not have the…12 Mar 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Twenty-second sitting)The hon. Gentleman has explained clearly in personal terms why it is important to involve the family, and I concur with the hon. Member for Richmond Park. I want to take the hon.…12 Mar 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Twenty-second sitting)Is the hon. Gentleman not making a case against a third stage altogether?12 Mar 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Twenty-second sitting)I would be grateful if the hon. Gentleman could explain that. If his concern is about asking patients to go through a third stage, after the doctor’s assessment—12 Mar 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Twenty-second sitting)In that case, what is the difference? It is not necessarily the case that the judicial stage has to be incredibly time-consuming, onerous or distressing for the patient. It is…12 Mar 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Twenty-second sitting)I was not suggesting that the hon. Gentleman opposed the panel. I recognise that he is speaking in support of it. My concern was that he was suggesting that there was a problem…12 Mar 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Twenty-third sitting)I greatly respect the position that the hon. Lady has come to. She has been persuaded that this is an improvement on the Bill, and I respect that. I recognise that that is what…12 Mar 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Twenty-third sitting)On Second Reading on 29 November, the hon. Member for Spen Valley said: “Under the Bill, any terminally ill person who wants to be considered for an assisted death would have to…12 Mar 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Twenty-third sitting)To be clear, I was not suggesting that they all said so on Second Reading, because not everybody spoke in that debate—nor am I saying that it is only because of this safeguard…12 Mar 2025