Speeches by Abbott.

“I say gently to the hon. Member that—particularly on the previous clause—I have been very sympathetic to several of the amendments. Candidly, however, with due respect to all the hon. Members across the House who submitted this, I do not think that they have been particularly well written. I think that they leave quite…”

“A line has to be drawn in the sand somewhere. Will the hon. Member define what an adequate timeline would look like for him to be satisfied?”

“Just as a point of clarification, I remember asking one of the witnesses at our oral evidence sessions about this very issue—Sir Nicholas Mostyn, an esteemed judge who has written and spoken about the issue extensively. We asked his views about neurodegenerative diseases and extending the time to 12 months, so it was s…”

“Just to be absolutely clear for everyone in the room, and in case I was not specific enough, if that terminal illness is a result of the eating disorder, rather than, say, of that person also being diagnosed with a terminal illness such as cancer, would they be covered under amendment 181?”

“My hon. Friend mentions the word “only”, but that word does not appear in this amendment. That is the issue: we are opening this up. The amendment says: “acting for their own sake rather than for the benefit of others.” In my example, I cited the benefit of others as potential reason that I might seek this.”

“To move away from the theoretical, like my hon. Friend the Member for Rother Valley I am sympathetic to what this amendment is trying to do. To give a practical example, let us say that I have been given a terminal diagnosis and say to the doctor, “I personally do not want to go through pain and agony over the next few…”

“I am grateful to the hon. Member; he has given way a number of times, and I am sure he wants to make some progress. To return to the scope of the debate—I am sure you will be delighted to hear that, Ms McVey—part of the rationale cited for making this change from “capacity” to “ability” is depression, and given what we…”

“My hon. Friend said that the Mental Capacity Act is not tried and tested, and I was challenging the premise that we should apply a concept that is not tried and tested in this or any other country. She is saying, “I can’t support the Mental Capacity Act in its current form because it is not tried and tested,” but, foll…”

“I was just following the argument.”

“It is not your argument, Sir Roger; it is my hon. Friend’s argument. I apologise. To follow the basic premise of my hon. Friend’s argument, she is saying that the Mental Capacity Act is not tried and tested for what we are discussing. However, by definition, neither is this amendment; if anything, it is even worse, bec…”

“To follow the basic premise of your argument—”

“We have spoken a lot today about further safeguards and provisions, beyond the Mental Capacity Act. However, I note that my hon. Friend has tabled amendment 339, which states that if a “person has a learning disability or is autistic” they “must be provided with accessible information and given sufficient time to consi…”

“rose—”

“I am a Spurs-supporting Ipswich MP, so I am not having a particularly good time on either front this season. I agree with what Yuan says about possibly having a Westminster Hall debate in March time ahead of when the Bill may come back. That might instruct any future debate when the Bill returns to the Commons. Timing-…”

“Q286 Professor Owen, you have talked extensively about the complexity of the Bill. I think it fair to say that our previous witnesses this week believe that the simplest safeguards are the safest. I stress that the simplest does not necessarily mean the weakest; it means a straightforward plan. Do you agree with the po…”

“Q My question is to you, Mr Greenwich. I understand that in New South Wales—and please do correct me if I am wrong—similarly to the Bill we are proposing, you adopted legalised assisted dying for those who are terminally ill and will die within six months, but you also added an additional criterion, which was within 12…”

“Q Professor Preston, you have extensive research into palliative and end-of-life care. It would be really helpful for the Committee if you could describe some of the underlying motivations about why people come to the decisions they do when choosing end-of-life care, and how you feel assisted dying would sit as an avai…”

“Q My question is also for you, Dr Price. The Royal College of Psychiatrists has been really clear in its statement that we as parliamentarians have to consider the outstanding questions about a person’s capacity to decide to end their own life, and whether it can be reliably assessed, and you particularly cite the impl…”

“Q Dr Fellingham, given your experience of both the British and the Australian healthcare systems, do you believe there are any fundamental differences that would affect how assisted dying is implemented in this country? If there are, how might we be able to mitigate them? Dr Fellingham: In the UK you are missing a numb…”

“Q I have a short final question. Is Marie Curie’s position basically that if palliative care does not improve, assisted dying should not be introduced in this country? Sam Royston: We are neutral on the question of whether assisted dying should be introduced. We are not neutral on the question of whether palliative car…”