Assisted Dying Bill [HL]

My Lords, before the noble Lord concludes, he has indicated his expectation that the level of cos...

The short answer is no. Lawyers charge very different amounts. A city lawyer charging £500 or £70...

My Lords, I was rather taken aback by this being such a short debate. I very much welcome the nob...

My Lords, it is not a question of sympathy. As the noble Lord well understands, it is a question ...

I am grateful to the Minister for his clarification saying, in effect, that there is already powe...

My Lords, I am grateful for the Minister’s helpful reply and for the intervention of the noble an...

The noble Lord mentioned that legal aid should also be available to members of the family and my ...

I am grateful for that intervention. I think my answer is this. I speak with the experience in th...

Moved by

Baroness O'Neill of Bengarve

12B: Clause 2, page 1, line 12, after “of” inse...

My Lords, this is a clarificatory amendment looking at the purposes of the Bill. We might think t...

My Lords, I have put my name to this amendment because I agree entirely that we need certainty in...

My Lords, I rise to support the amendment for the following reasons. Parliament should speak the ...

My Lords, I want to make one brief point. I agree with the speakers who have contributed so far t...

My Lords, I hate to cross swords with the noble Baroness, for whom I have enormous respect, but f...

My Lords, I want to speak on this issue and against the amendment. Some colleagues will know that...

My Lords, that was a very powerful speech. The Bill as it stands seems to me to involve no lack o...

My Lords, with great respect to my noble friend Lord Pannick, I disagree, and totally agree with ...

My Lords, I agree with the previous speaker. I do not believe there is clarity in the country abo...

I am extremely grateful to the noble Lord for giving way and I apologise for interrupting him and...

My Lords, the words we use are important, as is how the general public hear the words we use, and...

I am very grateful to the noble Lord for giving way. This is such an important day and we are, in...

Hear, hear.

My Lords, I am happy to hear that, although I think there is a debate to be had. I am happy to si...

My Lords, the noble Baroness, Lady Campbell of Surbiton, has been trying to get in for some time....

My Lords, I thank the Minister. I am sorry I have not got a loud voice. I may be a little slow. T...

My Lords, there is a deep reason why so serious a Bill should be particularly careful about the l...

My Lords, I have put my name down to Amendments 129, 130, 132 and 152 in this group, which are al...

My Lords, I speak in support of the comments made by the noble Lords, Lord Cormack, Lord Winston ...

My Lords, it is a besetting vice of politics to use language which is designed to achieve the max...

My Lords, it is always a pleasure to follow the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Carlisle, no...

My Lords, I have been sitting through these debates for 12 years—

My Lords—

We cannot have two people speaking at once. I am sure that the noble Lords can resolve it between...

My Lords, I have been sitting through these debates on assisted dying for some 12 years, sometime...

I apologise for interrupting the noble Lord, but I just wanted to inquire: why does he think that...

If we are really concerned with what the public understand, it is a bit presumptuous to assume th...

My Lords—

I realise that I have annoyed the noble Lord, but if I could just finish my sentence, it would be...

Before the noble Lord sits down, I would pick up his phrase “the Westminster bubble”. That is pre...

Of course the Bill is about assisted suicide, but equally obviously, it is expressly confined to ...

My Lords, I strongly agree with what the noble and learned Lord, Lord Brown of Eaton-under-Heywoo...

My Lords, I am sorry to disagree with the noble Lord, Lord Low, but I do so for the following rea...

My Lords, as one who has signed several amendments, I will say that I did so not because of conve...

My Lords, by convention I must apologise to the House: I was unable to attend Second Reading as I...

I join the noble Baroness in arguing for greater clarity on this, and I am genuinely surprised at...

I wonder if I could briefly settle this matter. I have just taken the extraordinary step of going...

My Lords, when I sit in front of my noble friend Lord Tebbit on these Benches, he has the habit o...

Is my noble friend not arguing against himself in arguing that the responsibility has somehow shi...

Not at all. Of course it is for the individual to make the ultimate decision, but he is not on hi...

My Lords, is that not taken into account by the use of the word “assisted”? No one is trying to p...

Far from deliberately ignoring the word, I would like to turn to another point that I think will ...

My Lords—

May I just finish this sentence? It might help bring about the very outcome that the opponents of...

If I ask my noble friend to give me a cup of hemlock, telling him that I am going to drink it, an...

The Bill is nothing to do with going off into a corner and getting someone to assist you in a dea...

I am very grateful to the noble Lord, who has been constantly interrupted, for giving way yet aga...

That is precisely the sort of clarity that the proponents of the Bill wish to bring about. We are...

I am grateful to my noble friend but what he does make of the fact that it is the movers of the B...

Self-administered, when surrounded by one’s family and registered nurses, with the assistance of ...

My Lords, briefly, the debate is now running into the sand a little and I hope that we can move o...

My Lords, I will be brief because I did hear what the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Cheste...

My Lords, may we have the privilege of listening to the noble Baroness, Lady Grey-Thompson?

Thank you, my Lords. I have two very small amendments in this group, Amendments 161 and 167, whic...

My Lords, I am well aware that the Committee wishes to move on, so I appeal to its forbearance to...

Has the noble Lord not detected in his correspondence, as I have, that being mealy-mouthed about ...

To some extent, that illustrates the point I was making. The Bill cannot be described as sophistr...

I wonder why the noble Lord cannot accept the definition of suicide written in the Oxford English...

This Bill is not redefining suicide; nor are we seeking to redefine suicide; nor is someone who c...

My Lords, we have spent enough time on terminology. As my noble friend Lord Tebbit said, the dict...

My Lords, I know we all feel very passionately about this matter. I do, intensely. There is a ver...

My Lords, this has indeed been a passionate and well informed debate. Your Lordships have shown c...

Is taking a lethal drug suicide?

In this context, it is for the Committee to consider the appropriate term. I decline to go any fu...

My Lords, this has been a very impressive debate. I completely agree with what the noble Lord, Lo...

My Lords, my comments would have been most apposite when I tried to intervene earlier. At that po...

My Lords, we have had a very interesting debate on the first amendment in this group, which is ve...

It does alter the law on suicide because it gives a specified defence.

It alters the law on assisting suicide, and it will be for the Committee, during the discussion o...

In calling Amendment 13 I advise the House that, if the amendment is agreed to, I cannot call Ame...

Moved by

Lord Carlile of Berriew

13: Clause 2, page 1, line 13, leave out “a register...

My Lords, I beg to move the amendment standing in my name and in the names of the noble Lord, Lor...

Would my noble friend consider the case of patients with mesothelioma—perhaps we might hear also ...

My noble friend, for whom I have the utmost admiration and with whom I have worked on many issues...

The noble Lord has entirely answered the remark of the noble Lord, Lord Avebury, about mesothelio...

I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Alton. I see that I have spoken for 12 minutes and want to ...

My Lords—

Well, I would bring my remarks to a close, but my admiration for the noble Lord who has just stoo...

I am grateful. I just want to ask for clarification. The noble Lord’s Amendment 13, as I understa...

Uncharacteristically, the noble Lord makes an entirely false point. The first response is that my...

My Lords—

No, I am not going to give way to the noble Lord; he can speak in a moment. I do not mean to be d...

My Lords—

I am not giving way to the noble Lord, I am afraid—not on this occasion. He has opportunity to sp...

Moved by

Baroness Finlay of Llandaff

13A: Clause 2, line 2, leave out “registered med...

My Lords, I shall speak briefly to my Amendment 13A but I also have other amendments in this grou...

The noble Baroness may speak to all the amendments in the group.

Thank you. I apologise for requiring clarification on that. I did not want to make things difficu...

I apologise to the noble Baroness and realise that she will speak to the other amendments to whic...

I am most grateful to the noble Baroness for that intervention because it allows me to clarify th...

Is it not right to remind the House that, if there is a misdiagnosis of that sort and survival co...

I am grateful to the noble Lord for that intervention. If they have been misinformed—it is not th...

I might be able to assist the noble Baroness’s arguments slightly. Is not the whole House aware o...

I am grateful to the noble Lord for that illustration, which is very clear and well known to all ...

The noble Baroness placed a great deal of emphasis on accuracy. Those points completely fail to t...

When we legislate we need to know that there is accuracy attached to the terms. If we are asking ...

My Lords, I have added my name in support of the amendment of the noble Lord, Lord Carlile, but I...

My Lords, if we are to have this Bill, it is very important, as the noble and right reverend Lord...

My Lords—

My Lords, the noble Baronesses, Lady Campbell, Lady Grey-Thompson and Lady Brinton, have been try...

Hear, hear.

I thank the Minister. My Lords, there are many reasons why I strongly oppose the Bill and why I h...

My Lords, I wish to raise two brief points. The first is on the rate of diagnostic error, which h...

My Lords, the noble Baroness, Lady Campbell, has spoken movingly from her own experience and, ind...

Before the noble Baroness finishes, will she acknowledge that, quite often, when patients do not ...

I accept the noble Baroness’s premise that it is vital for medical practitioners to set things ou...

My Lords—

My Lords, I want to pursue the line of argument that the noble Baroness, Lady Brinton, has starte...

I am grateful to the noble Lord for giving way, but does he understand the concern that exists am...

The amendments would not deal with that matter. They would in many cases make it impossible for a...

My Lords, unlike the noble Lord, Lord Cormack, I have always welcomed and embraced the Bill, or c...

Would the noble Lord like to clarify what he means by that very ambiguous phrase about doctors ea...

As in so many things, there is a line here which is difficult to draw. However, doctors in this H...

My Lords, I declare an interest in that I was a member of the Commission on Assisted Dying, chair...

My Lords, very briefly, I support Amendment 13, proposed by the noble Lord, Lord Carlile, and the...

My Lords, reference has been made to the GMC, and therefore I should perhaps draw attention to my...

Would the noble Baroness be willing to accept a different kind of amendment which took into accou...

I am grateful to my noble friend. The difficulty is trying to put this in the Bill, to deal with ...

I will add one point to my noble friend’s argument which is absolutely telling. One can be regist...

I will add to that last point, for which I am grateful. I have been a supporter of the principles...

I am grateful for both interruptions because they allow me to say what I omitted to say—that the ...

My Lords, I wish to make three brief points. The noble Baroness, Lady Campbell, has told us that ...

My Lords, I feel urged to come in here after the noble Lord, Lord Low, with whom I have worked an...

If people with terminal illnesses do not wish to take advantage of the provisions of this legisla...

My Lords, the answer to the noble Lord’s question is that they fear that they will take advantage...

Before my noble friend completes her remarks, has she had a chance to read the briefing that was ...

I think that was a question to me from the noble Lord, Lord Alton. The answer is, yes, I did know...

My Lords—

My Lords, this has—

I have been trying to intervene for some time. I strongly support the amendment on terminal illne...

Perhaps I may pick up the point about a six-month prognosis. The point there is that one’s life i...

I thank the noble Baroness for that clarification. I note that in August 2011, 13,400 individuals...

Can I seek clarification from the noble Lord? What he is trying to do is challenge the point that...

My Lords, I would not dream of trying to rebut anything that the noble Lord said.

My Lords, I support what the noble Lord, Lord McColl, said. He is one of the foremost medical aut...

I thank the noble Lord for that intervention. I have been in practice for very many years and I s...

The noble Lord said earlier that he gave his patient a huge dose of heroin. He used the words, “w...

The problem is that when you give these very powerful drugs, the symptoms are relieved but the pa...

My Lords, the point has been made, as though this closes the need for a definition, that a defini...

My Lords, one is reluctant to become involved in a debate when so many noble Lords with senior me...

The noble Lord made some cogent points in relation to this group of amendments. He made me wonder...

Those are things that we have to probe in Committee. That is what Committee is for. The amendment...

My Lords, I wanted to make exactly the same point as that made by the noble Baroness, Lady Finlay...

My noble friend referenced me in saying that doctors were overoptimistic. What I said was that on...

My Lords, like the Government, the Opposition are not expressing a view on the Bill, and we have ...

I am happy to clear it up. My understanding—and I am happy to be corrected by the Minister if I a...

That is a very helpful response. Can the noble Lord explain the circumstances in which a patient ...

If a patient is not registered, they are not registered. If a patient goes as a temporary residen...

My Lords, I do not have anything to add on that particular point.

This has been an excellen...

I am again grateful for a very good debate. I agree with the noble Lord, Lord Faulks, as ever, th...

I have a serious question for the noble and learned Lord, which I am sure he will answer seriousl...

I do not accept it in the way that the noble Lord has formulated it. I say that there should be t...

I am grateful to the noble and learned Lord, who has made a helpful response, up to a point. If t...

The first point about the two doctors is dealt with in Clause 3, because the second doctor has to...

I am concerned very much about this problem of doctors for hire. Does the noble and learned Lord ...

I am very happy to discuss with the noble Lord the idea of there being some limit. I have thought...

I was to some extent motivated to intervene at this stage because the noble and learned Lord allu...

I could not agree more with the approach that underlies what the noble Lord, Lord Maginnis, has s...

I am most grateful to the noble and learned Lord for giving way, and particularly for the referen...

As I indicated to the noble Lord, Lord Jopling, I am more than happy to talk about it. The exampl...

My Lords, I listened with great care to what the noble Lord, Lord Empey, said. The noble and lear...

I could answer that, but the noble Baroness has tabled a later amendment. I am not at all unsympa...

I should like clarification from the noble and learned Lord. I think he said that Clause 2 requir...

I think the noble Baroness is wrong. I thought that I had said Clause 3 but maybe I did not. Clau...

I just want to understand which clause we are debating. I thought we were debating Clause 2, whic...

It is obviously my fault for not properly explaining this. As I understand the noble Baroness’s p...

No, I am talking about the point at which we open the gate and make the Bill apply. I know that i...

That is a fair point. The process is that one doctor says the person is terminally ill. The patie...

I am grateful to the noble and learned Lord for having finally got on to the timeframe issue and ...

I apologise to the House for taking so long to get on to the point about six months versus six we...

I—

If I may finish, the reason I am against it is that once the diagnosis is given by the doctors, t...

If I may come back on that, does the noble and learned Lord recognise that those discussions are ...

I thought that I had answered the question but I will answer it again. A doctor has concluded tha...

I shall just explain some of the worries that the noble Baroness, Lady Campbell, has.

No!

In a sentence, every time she goes into hospital, they say, “You don’t want to be resuscitated, d...

I will take that up. With regard to my Bill, if the situation were reached—the noble Baroness, La...

My Lords—

My Lords—

Can the noble and learned Lord say if he thinks that pressure might be put on some vulnerable peo...

The Oregon experience is that that does not happen, but the safeguards—two doctors, and the High ...

I am grateful to the noble and learned Lord for having responded to the question about the qualif...

My Lords, perhaps the Minister or the Chief Whip will correct me if I am wrong, but I understand ...

My Lords, I have to tell the House that in the first Division one noble Lord voted in both Lobbie...