Speeches by Leadbeater.

“That is indeed what would happen under the Bill as it stands.”

“I am speaking to my hon. Friend. The point she raised about “directly” and “indirectly” is a very good one, and subsection (1A) says “In particular”, which is not exclusive. That lack of clarity and certainty concerns me; does she agree?”

“This is a very interesting point. I am slightly concerned about the equality and human rights issues in terms of the patients and terminally ill people, as well as the staff—that relates to the point that the right hon. Member for North West Hampshire just made. I do not know whether the hon. Member has done any resear…”

“I think it is fair to say that the evidence from New Zealand is mixed. One family said that the final few precious hours of their mum’s life were mostly filled with stress and distress, as they had to scurry around to move her out of her so-called home. Does the hon. Lady agree that there are different views and opinio…”

“The hon. Lady is making some interesting points, but I am not entirely sure that they are within the scope of the amendments.”

“It is a pleasure to serve under you this morning, Ms McVey. My amendments 374 and 471 serve to clarify that the second declaration must be made before it is witnessed—it is a drafting amendment—and to bring clause 13 in line with the reporting requirements elsewhere in the Bill. For the functions of the commissioner to…”

“I appreciate that; that is helpful and I thank the hon. Member. As the Minister said, a person whose death is approaching may have stopped eating and drinking for a number of reasons. They may simply be too ill. They may be unable to digest food. It may be that they have lost their appetite, or that they will be even m…”

“I beg to move amendment 375, in clause 14, page 10, line 9, at end insert— “(1A) Where notice or an indication is given to the coordinating doctor under subsection (1)(a), the doctor must as soon as practicable notify the Commissioner of the cancellation.” This amendment requires the coordinating doctor to notify the C…”

“I hope that these are a couple of nice, simple amendments. The right of the patient to cancel at any time is obviously really important. It is also important that, for the purpose of monitoring and reporting the process, the commissioner, as proposed, is kept informed at every stage. I hope that the whole Committee can…”

“To allay those fears, perhaps the fundamental answer to the question is that those people do not stop being patients—sadly, they do not stop being terminally ill patients. They have just chosen to cancel the declaration, and they will already have wraparound care. To some degree, the hon. Gentleman answered his own que…”

“I repeat what I said earlier about what will happen to the patient if they choose to cancel: their care will continue. From a medical practitioner perspective, it is inconceivable that those patients would be abandoned, as the hon. Member for East Wiltshire is suggesting. That would not happen. I understand that cancel…”

“My hon. Friend is making a really sensible point and a fair argument, and I am very happy to support the amendment.”

“Will the hon. Member give way?”

“My point was that I think amendment 411 has been withdrawn.”

“Does the Minister agree that it will be on the record that we have had this conversation, and that many of us—including myself—have expressed our concerns about the concept of good standing in the community? I would like to think that that will be taken into consideration.”

“I will speak first to my amendment 473. It is important to be clear that the role of the proxy is very specific and would be used only in a very limited number of cases, where the patient is not able to sign their own name. That is, however, important when we are talking about terminally ill people who may be physicall…”

“I do not know the details of the individual cases that the hon. Member speaks about, but he makes a powerful point and we absolutely agree on the importance of recording and monitoring. I know that he voted against the changes at clause 12, but I hope he gets some reassurance from the changes that the commission would …”

“I have nothing further to add. Amendment 474 agreed to. Amendments made: 475, clause 16, page 11, line 19, leave out from second “the” to “in” in line 21 and insert “occurrence of the recordable event”. This amendment is consequential on amendments 209 and 377. Amendment 476, in clause 16, page 11, line 24, leave out f…”

“I beg to move amendment 479, in clause 17, page 11, line 37, leave out “at” and insert “with”. This amendment clarifies that a cancellation may be given to a practitioner with the person’s GP practice.”

“The amendment, which would clarify the drafting, speaks for itself. The important point is that the record of cancellation be with the GP practice as soon as is practicable. It is not necessary for that to take place physically at the practice, as that could potentially delay its delivery.”