Speeches by Leadbeater.

“You talked a lot there about the English flag. How does that play out in the nations? For me, this is about identity. It is about multiple identities. I am a very proud Yorkshire woman. I am also proud to be English. I am proud to be British and lots of other identities as well. What does that look like in Wales, Scotl…”

“This has been so interesting and really helpful, so thank you very much. I am going to come back to the point that you finished on, Misbah, when you last spoke around cohesion and integration at a community level and what we can do about that, but also what policy things we can change and put in place. You also said th…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for being so generous with her time in giving way. As we can see from today’s debate, this is not a rare condition. Maybe some people think that it is rare, but it affects many people, including Helen, who lives in Roberttown in my constituency. She was repeatedly misdiagnosed and has faced years…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Turner. I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow North (Martin Rhodes) for securing this debate on an issue that we simply cannot ignore or put in the “too difficult” pile. This is a tragedy on so many levels—morally, politically, strategically, but above…”

“I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend, and will tell some of those stories now. I spent time with some of the kindest, most resilient people I have met. Even back then it was deemed too dangerous for us to go to Gaza, but in the west bank we spent time with many amazing people under the most difficult of circumstances…”

“I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention. I think what he is saying is that people have got different views, and they do have different views; we have different views in this House, and different people in different professions have different views. Every royal college has a neutral position on assisted dying be…”

“I thank the hon. Member for that intervention, and she is absolutely right; the detail does matter. That is why I am so grateful to colleagues who have engaged in the detail. We know that there are different views within the public, and we have to take on board the concerns of vulnerable groups—that is why the safeguar…”

“I am just going to make some progress. Patients must have “an inevitably progressive illness or disease which cannot be reversed by treatment” and a person is not considered to be terminally ill only because they have a disability or a mental disorder. These clear, strict criteria, plus the multiple capacity assessment…”

“I thank him for his intervention, but I would say, as I have said previously, that people working in palliative care have a mixed range of views on this subject. I have met with palliative care doctors, and some are very supportive of a change in the law because of the suffering they have seen.”

“I think we have covered that point already. These are not homogeneous groups of people; they have different views and opinions. If we look at the inconsistencies in the current law, it just does not make sense. If someone with a terminal illness voluntarily stops eating and drinking, it is legal for them to starve them…”

“I will make some progress. We have a system in which it legal for someone to starve themselves to death, which can take days or weeks, but where it is not legal for someone to seek assistance from a doctor to take an approved substance themselves to end their pain or suffering and take back control in their dying days.…”

“I am not going to take any more interventions, because lots of people want to speak. Then there are the criminal offences that the Bill introduces—none of which exist now—including life imprisonment for anyone who induces another person to take the approved substance, and 14 years in prison for coercion, dishonesty or …”

“I am going to finish. There will be stories of suicide attempts, post-traumatic stress disorder, lonely trips to Switzerland, police investigations, and everything else we have all heard of in recent months. As the Commission on Assisted Dying said in 2011, 14 years ago: “The current legal status of assisted dying [in …”

“I am going to finish shortly. Surely we should all have the right to decide what happens to our bodies and decide when enough is enough. Of course, giving people the right to choose does not take away the right not to choose. Today, we can vote with either our hearts or with our heads, but either way, we should end up …”

“Will my hon. Friend give way?”

“Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?”

“I am just going to make some progress, if I may. But, as I was saying, it is an either/or decision for us today: either we vote for the safe, effective, workable reform contained in this Bill, or we say that the status quo is acceptable. Over recent months, I have heard hundreds of stories from people who have lost lov…”

“I beg to move, That the Bill be now read the Third time. It is an honour and a privilege to open the debate on Third Reading of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill. It has been a long journey to get here, and I do not underestimate the significance of this day. It is not often that we are asked to wrestle with…”

“I beg to move, That the clause be read a Second time.”

“It is a privilege to open today’s debate and to present to the House the amendments tabled in my name, a number of which relate to issues that I promised to return to when they were raised in Committee. All amendments in my name have been drafted with technical advice and expertise from civil servants from the Departme…”