Contributions
1,183 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Eleventh sitting)There is a certain confusion about the extent to which encouragement of assisted suicide—assisted dying, under the terms of the Bill—would be legal or not. The Bill does not…12 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Eleventh sitting)I emphasise that the basis of the Bill, despite what many campaigners might want, is not one of total autonomy. The Bill requires us to have some responsibility towards the…12 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Eleventh sitting)I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for stating so clearly the ultra-libertarian position: “Leave it all open; trust the doctors—allow them to conclude if there has been any…12 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Eleventh sitting)I am not sure that we are going to satisfy each other on this point. A lot of the evidence that we have heard conclusively asserts that there is a widespread problem of families…12 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Eleventh sitting)The hon. Gentleman makes an important point. However, as we discussed earlier, the terms of the Suicide Act 1961—which explicitly include the term “encouragement”—include…12 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Eleventh sitting)Okay. I am sorry to hear that.12 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Eleventh sitting)I am very grateful to my hon. Friend.12 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Eleventh sitting)I will give way first to my hon. Friend and then to the hon. Gentleman.12 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Eleventh sitting)If my right hon. Friend just wants a free and easy, free-flowing discussion that has no specific questions that need to be asked or answered, there should not be any requirement…12 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Eleventh sitting)I recognise my right hon. Friend’s argument. The fact is that encouraging assisted suicide is theoretically illegal—in fact, it will be illegal under the Bill—so there is already…12 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Eleventh sitting)Okay. I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his intervention. We have received significant written and oral evidence on how common it is, sadly, that vulnerable people…12 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Eleventh sitting)This morning, we adjourned in the middle of an intervention. I do not know whether the hon. Member for Banbury wants to resume it.12 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Tenth sitting)First, there might not be a causal link between assisted suicide laws and the increase in unassisted suicides in those places, but there is such a clear correlation that it is…12 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Tenth sitting)I think that is right. I do not accept the claim that this Bill is somehow a response to the problem of abuse, coercion or the pressure to end life in families. Tragically, in…12 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Tenth sitting)I am sure that the hon. Lady will acknowledge that those investigations will still happen, because not everybody who commits suicide will be subject to the Bill; not everybody who…12 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Tenth sitting)If we are going to rule out the word “encouraged” on the basis of archaism, I do not know what we are going to do with the language. It is a perfectly acceptable term. We are…12 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Tenth sitting)The hon. Member is absolutely right—undue influence does exist in law, including in laws that have been passed very recently. I recognise that the hon. Member for Rother Valley is…12 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Eleventh sitting)My right hon. Friend says that the primary purpose is control, and that is certainly the argument made by some of the most passionate advocates of this sort of legislation.…12 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Eleventh sitting)I am interested in what my hon. Friend said about not having had conversations with the Government or the promoter about the details of these amendments. I could understand that…12 Feb 2025HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Eleventh sitting)Will the Minister give way?12 Feb 2025