Coroners and Justice Bill

I, too, have signed the amendment and I had the privilege also of serving on the Select Committee chaired by the noble Lord, Lord Walton of Detchant. It was many years ago, as he reminded us. I say to him and to other Members of the Committee who raised some of the general points about palliative care and the Suicide Act in this country that, frankly, that is not what this amendment is about. It focuses exclusively on the particular circumstances of people who are terminally ill, who have mental capacity, and who have made a determined decision that they wish to travel abroad to have an assisted death. The noble Lord, Lord Walton of Detchant, and others referred exclusively to the situation in Switzerland, but let us not forget that one could, for example—if one wished to—go to the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium or, if one wished to make a long journey, Oregon or Washington State. Therefore, we are not in this amendment seeking to make judgments about a particular institution, which some noble Lords may feel has an unattractive presentation. That is not what this debate or this amendment is about. It is not about assisted suicide laws in this country. Frankly, it is not—except indirectly—about palliative care. I should also say, with great respect, although I took very clearly the points of the noble Lord, Lord Lester of Herne Hill, on disability, that it is not about disability. It is about a very narrow situation which my noble and learned friend Lord Falconer very adequately described in his introduction. Taking the lay person’s view on all of this, one is entitled to have as a citizen a clear view about whether one’s individual conduct is criminal or not. In this respect, I refer the Committee to the point made by my noble and learned friend the Attorney-General in response to a previous amendment to the Bill. She said: ""One of the things that we aspire to achieve with these provisions"—" that is, with the Bill— ""is a greater degree of clarity, certainty and, therefore, consistency".—[Official Report, 30/6/09; col. 169.]" That is precisely what my noble and learned friend’s amendment is trying to achieve on a very narrow perspective. In supporting him, I should like not simply to reinforce that legal point, but to make a slightly more general, and perhaps more emotional, point about the nature of the people and their circumstances who would be affected—and, indeed, would be helped—if this amendment were agreed. At Second Reading, I gave some examples of people who were faced with very agonising choices for their families and who would confront a situation whereby they could give one last act of loving kindness to a person who, as I said, is determined and of sound mind to travel abroad to somewhere where it is legal to get an assisted death. They can do that, but are then in the terrible situation that they may face prosecution. I mentioned people who defied the law to give that comfort and assistance. I mentioned those who felt terrible guilt for many years because they had been deterred from accompanying a loved one, and those who chose to keep their plans secret from a wider group. In one instance, a couple went to a place where they could effect a dignified death so that they would die together. In every circumstance, there was a clandestine nature to the activity and a sense that they were trying to keep something very quiet. I received a letter today from a woman with multiple sclerosis who said that she did not want to "sneak off" to another country to die earlier than she needed to. All of these people—and all of us who support the amendment—would like to see the desire expressed by the Attorney-General for clarity, certainty and consistency achieved by the amendment. That is what I would like to see.