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719 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) BillMy Lords, these amendments concern the preliminary discussion and the timing of the recording not just of that discussion but of cancellations. They would raise obligations on GPs…27 Mar 2026HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) BillI am not sure I have understood the question. If the question is, “Can a hospice opt out from the opt-out?”, the answer is no. Can the hospice have a separate opt-out? That may be…27 Mar 2026HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) BillI am not sure what further guarantees the noble Baroness and the noble Lord have in mind, because they will know from the Bill that Schedule 3 amends the Employment Rights Act…27 Mar 2026HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) BillMy Lords—27 Mar 2026HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) BillI never make long interventions. The complaint of the doctors is that they want an opt-in and not an opt-out. Their complaint is not that it is not clear enough that they are…27 Mar 2026HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) BillI am absolutely amazed to hear that. Clause 5(1) says: “No registered medical practitioner is under any duty to raise the subject of the provision of assistance in accordance with…27 Mar 2026HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) BillLet me finish. What more could one do to give protection to doctors? Beyond saying that there will never be a duty to raise it or to participate, I cannot think of what wording…27 Mar 2026HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) BillThe noble Baroness, Lady Gerada, made it clear that the Royal College of General Practitioners was not in favour of a register. It may well be in favour of an opt-in process, but…27 Mar 2026HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) BillWhat I am thinking about is a provision that says if, as a hospice, you say you do not want to provide it, you should not suffer various sorts of institutional detriment. That is…27 Mar 2026HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) BillThat is correct.27 Mar 2026HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) BillThe only organisational exceptions that I am contemplating—the exceptions in Clause 31 are for individuals—are in relation to hospices, not care homes.27 Mar 2026HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) BillI completely accept the point about opt-in. I am pressing the noble Lord on his question as to whether there could be a doubt that a doctor is under a duty to raise it, and I am…27 Mar 2026HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) BillYes, there can be no duty to raise a question of assisted dying if an Act of Parliament says that there is no duty to raise it. That case, the Montgomery case and the normal…27 Mar 2026HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) BillWe have discussed this before and the noble Lord, Lord Stevens, is right. He is referring to the 2006 Act—not the noble Lord’s Act but the one before it—which says that the…27 Mar 2026HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) BillThere is a specific provision for opting in. I am not quite sure what the noble Baroness is saying. It is absolutely clear that that is the provision. I move on to the amendments…27 Mar 2026HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) BillMay I say that the noble Baroness puts it brilliantly? Here is a range of treatments, or—deleting “treatments”—here is a range of things that can be done. One of them is assisted…27 Mar 2026HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) BillThe precise knowledge of who does it, where the list is kept, who registers with whom—for example, whether they register with the commissioner—is about detailed implementation,…27 Mar 2026HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) BillIn relation to a porter, for example, a porter cannot be required to be in the room or helping in—I said Clause 26 but I meant Clause 25, which is in relation to the provision of…27 Mar 2026HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) BillCan I go on for a bit? I will come back at the end if there is time, but let us keep going. Next, on the register, I think Amendment 189 from the noble Baroness, Lady Fraser, is…27 Mar 2026HANSARDTerminally Ill Adults (End of Life) BillThere is a difference between expectation on the one hand and opt-in on the other. We take the view, after discussions with the BMA, that opt-in is sufficient to make it clear…27 Mar 2026