Contributions
1,183 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Twelfth sitting)I am sorry if it offends Members, but the fact is that the Bill in its present form, with the amendments rejected, will place no obligation on doctors to refer people to…25 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Twelfth sitting)I beg to move amendment 399, in clause 2, page 1, line 22, leave out “, disease or medical condition” and insert “or disease”. This amendment ensures that a terminal illness under…25 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Twelfth sitting)I said in the last debate that this is either a safeguarding Bill or an autonomy Bill. [ Interruption. ] Or that it is both, but the claim has been that it is a safeguarding Bill…25 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Twelfth sitting)Well, if the hon. Lady will say that she will never, at any stage, support a proposal to extend it beyond six months, I will be very glad to hear it. My concern is that we already…25 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Twelfth sitting)Yes, but I simply state on the record that I believe that this is not the end, but the beginning of a wider Bill that would follow if we passed this one. I am encouraged by what…25 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Twelfth sitting)I am very happy to use the word “condition”—we all use it quite casually, including me—but we are concerned about legislation here. As I explained, if we include the term “medical…25 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Twelfth sitting)I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman. I thought that might be the case too, and I was wondering about that, but I am very concerned about some of the evidence that Professor Whitty…25 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Twelfth sitting)Again, I am interested in that, because I would be surprised if that condition were not adequately captured by the term “illness” or “disease”. If not, we should seek further…25 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Twelfth sitting)I am grateful to the hon. Lady; it is helpful to understand her thinking. Her amendment is an attempt to further clarify her purpose, which is to communicate that we cannot have…25 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Twelfth sitting)The fact that cancer is included in the Equality Act definition does expose a concern about the Bill. It suggests that there is a real connection there, which is of concern. I…25 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Thirteenth sitting)The hon. Gentleman is making a very important point, and he picks up the observation by the hon. Member for Bradford West that there is a link, through the Equality Act, with…25 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Thirteenth sitting)I just wanted the hon. Gentleman to comment on the reality in our NHS at the moment that people are described as terminally ill with anorexia. They are given the label of being…25 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Thirteenth sitting)I am grateful for that clarification, but it rather concerns me. Can the Minister elucidate exactly which conditions might fall into the category of medical condition that would…25 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Thirteenth sitting)I was going to remind the Minister that he is, in his strange Jekyll and Hyde personality, speaking as a Minister but voting as a Member of Parliament, so if he has given the…25 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Thirteenth sitting)I am delighted to hear it. I am grateful to the hon. Lady and to other hon. Members who have indicated their sympathy for the amendment. I look forward to the Division and to the…25 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Thirteenth sitting)I am grateful, Mr Dowd. I recognise the force of what the hon. Member for Penistone and Stocksbridge is saying. To be clear, the amendments that I am supporting would not deny…25 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Thirteenth sitting)I will be as quick as I can be. I recognise the powerful contributions that have been made on a number of the amendments. I pay tribute to the hon. Member for Broxtowe, who made a…25 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Thirteenth sitting)The hon. Member invites me to suggest that I think it would be possible to draw a safe safeguard. I do not. I think that one month is better than six months, because with one…25 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Thirteenth sitting)I accept that, which is why amendment 282 is probing only. It is trying to demonstrate the point. I recognise that even the expedited process is likely to take up to a month to…25 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Thirteenth sitting)I am not. I think we have allowed six months to creep into common legal parlance because of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992; we now recognise in law that…25 Feb 2025