Speeches by Francis.

“On that point, in our oral evidence we were not able to hear from witnesses about the changes to the clauses, because we did not understand what the repercussions would be at this stage.”

“I hear what the hon. Member says. My concern has always been the scenario that I described. If this legislation is passed and we push it forward, one death that occurs where somebody has concerns about the process would be one too many. I said that clearly when we debated clause 3, and that remains my principal concern…”

“I am not entirely persuaded. I think there is currently a mixture of cases, and there will potentially be a mixture of cases in future. I hear what the right hon. Member says, but my primary concern is about the way things are. As I say, I am minded not to support the amendments on balance, but I am concerned that we c…”

“That is what I have wrestled with. That conversation will happen, and at the end of it, I accept that the autonomy is with the individual, who may well make a decision that they believe is for the best but with which their loved one does not necessarily agree. I think there are examples from overseas of that having hap…”

“I am torn by this amendment. I absolutely accept that it is the right, the autonomy, of an individual to make the decisions and to have confidentiality when making those decisions, but I will touch on a few things that I have said previously. First, briefly, I hear what the hon. Member for East Wiltshire said about coe…”

“I just want to confirm that either side has the right of appeal in Spain.”

“I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. Amendment proposed: 410, in clause 12, page 8, line 27, leave out subsection (6).—(Juliet Campbell.) The amendment would remove the ability of the court to hear from and question any person other than the person who made the application for t…”

“I will withdraw amendment 105 later, but will speak to it briefly, as my name is on it. The amendment aims to require court rules to be made that would ensure an adversarial court process, by appointing an advocate to the court. It would also require them to hear from the person seeking assistance to end their life and…”

“I beg to move amendment 105, in clause 12, page 8, line 15, leave out subsections (4) and (5) and insert— “(4A) Rules of Court must secure that in relation to an application under subsection (1), the High Court must— (a) prescribe a procedure which in relation to each application appoints a person (the Official Solicit…”

“Will my hon. Friend give way on that point?”

“My hon. Friend is about to refer to Spain, as am I. Article 10 of the relevant Spanish law gives a right of appeal on a point of law to a higher court. Does he believe that we will be in line with the position in Spain? How long does he envision judicial review taking, given that we are dealing with somebody who is at …”

“I would welcome that as a positive step forward—I think there is probably still some work to do in that regard. My hon. Friend and I will have conversations on the wording of that future amendment, but at the moment we are discussing the amendments that stand before us. Any future amendments that may be tabled are not …”

“I will not come back on anything but, obviously, I will press some of these amendments in due course. I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. Amendment proposed: 294, in clause 7, page 4, line 5, after “doctor” insert “based on provided evidence that”.—(Daniel Francis.) This amendm…”

“As my hon. Friend will know, my name is down as a supporter of amendment 6. I will get to that in due course. At the moment, I am speaking to amendment 284. I hear what my hon. Friend says—I am talking about the merits of amendment 284, but will get to amendment 6 in my closing comments. On amendment 284, if a doctor h…”

“Absolutely. This amendment, of course, is widely supported by Committee members for that very reason. As I was saying, we already use that assessment for organ donation, and Members supporting this amendment believe that should be the case for those that are seeking an assisted death. I now move on to amendment 284, in…”

“I agree with my hon. Friend about the number of amendments in this vein, but clearly the amendments suggested by my hon. Friend the Member for Hackney South and Shoreditch bring us into line with existing regulations. In her evidence, Dr Cox said: “If we look at the evidence of suicide, we know that it is increased in …”

“I agree. An assessment by a specialist would protect patients and give another opportunity to spot coercion—something that we all want to safeguard against. I welcome the acceptance of amendment 20, tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Lowestoft (Jess Asato), ensuring that doctors will be better trained to spot thes…”

“I will not press amendment 347 to a vote, but I will speak to it, and to this group of amendments. First, I shall turn to amendments 14 to 19, tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Hackney South and Shoreditch (Dame Meg Hillier), which would require a co-ordinating doctor to refer the patient to an independent psychi…”

“I beg to move amendment 347, in clause 7, page 4, line 4, leave out from “to” to the second “the” in line 5 and insert— “ensure that steps have been taken to confirm that”. This amendment would remove the emphasis on the role of the coordinating doctor in making these assessments.”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Harris. It would be remiss of me not to comment briefly on new clause 8, given that throughout this process I have consistently raised issues around evidence given by the Equality and Human Rights Commission, and given that new clause 8 states that before making a rec…”