Speeches by Atkinson.

“Q So you would be happy if there was an explicit prohibition on recommendation. Dr Green: I am reluctant to make a statement on that in this forum. We will go away and discuss it, and come back to you.”

“I agree with my hon. Friend the Member for Spen Valley. Having agreed to extend the time on Thursday to hear devolution issues and from the Royal College of General Practitioners and the Royal College of Psychiatrists, by adding two further witnesses, the amendment to the amendment would reduce the time available on th…”

“Q We have heard from two witnesses—you, Sir Nicholas, and Dr Ahmedzai from the earlier panel—on the question of judicial oversight. While we have you here, Sir Max and Mr Ruck Keene, what are your observations on the proposals from those two witnesses that an alternative to a High Court judge overseeing the process wou…”

“Q I think around 650 people with a terminal illness currently take their own lives a year. If we see a success with the Bill, I wonder whether there would be a reduction of that number going forward. Do you think that could be incorporated in monitoring going forward? Do you think there are opportunities to avoid that …”

“Q Clause 35 introduces a duty on the Secretary of State to report on a periodic basis to Parliament on the accessibility and quality of palliative care. As I understand it, that would be a new duty that we are pioneering. What is your reaction to that? Will it be helpful in continuing the momentum to make improvements …”

“indicated assent. Dr Green: With regard to the specific questions, no, I do not believe that a doctor has to be a specialist in the individual disease at stake to advise a patient about prognosis. I can only refer you back to what Dr Whitty said: that in the majority of cases, it is fairly clear—this applies to capacit…”

“Q Sir Chris, you mentioned having time to ensure that people are appropriately trained, and the Bill includes provisions for the Secretary of State to make orders around required training. Could you say a little bit more about that? If Parliament decide to pass an Act of this nature, what training would be helpful and …”

“Q I have one follow-up on that. At the moment, we are aware that there are instances across the NHS every day where people make decisions around refusing the treatment that would be required to prolong their life. Doctors, nurses and the healthcare team would be involved in assessing capacity and coercion around those …”

“Q Moving on to the next issue, you have both spoken fairly clearly about—or advocated against—having an absolute ban on doctors discussing or raising the issue. I want to tease out whether there is a difference between raising it and recommending it. Dr Green, you suggested that it might be appropriate for a doctor to …”

“Will my hon. Friend give way?”

“On that point, will the hon. Gentleman give way?”

“I agree with the comments of the hon. Member for Harrogate and Knaresborough. The hon. Member for East Wiltshire said at the start that the purpose of this Committee was not to relitigate the principle of the vote that we had on Second Reading. Yet in his comment just now, he talked about weighing up the numbers in fav…”

“I, like you, Sir Roger, hope that we can spend the next five or six weeks in the spirit of collaboration and that we do not get bogged down in procedural wrangling. We need to work across the Committee to get the best procedure we can. The hon. Member for East Wiltshire made several points, including the precedent for …”

“I agree that social media companies rightly face regulation; I will talk a little more about that later. There is, rightly, debate and campaigning in the media and elsewhere—we saw some of that over the weekend—about the level of regulation of online content that children may access online, whether that is illegal cont…”

“I thank Members from across the House for their contributions to this well attended and powerful debate. We have demonstrated significant consensus across the House about the need to continue to strengthen and evolve online regulation, which, as the petition shows, is a matter of significant public concern. I think it …”

“I beg to move, That this House has considered e-petition 661407 relating to children’s social media accounts. It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Mr Twigg. It is a privilege to have the opportunity to open this important debate as a member of the Petitions Committee. I start by paying tribute to the petiti…”

“I agree that legislative action has been necessary, as the Online Safety Act shows, and indeed, there are provisions on this in the current data Bill. The issue is that there is a lack of clarity; under the existing law, some social media companies seem to be finding a way of doing the right thing while others are not.…”

“7. What steps his Department is taking to utilise technology to improve access to public services.”

“Sunderland was recently named the UK’s smartest city by The Times. It was a pleasure to welcome the Secretary of State when he visited recently. More than 5,000 homes in our city now have assistive technology installed, supporting the independence of older and disabled people and improving their access to care. How do …”

“21. What steps he is taking to improve housing for military personnel and their families.”