Speeches by Paul.

“I thank the Minister for that explanation. I suggest it would also be appropriate for him to set out the changes that could be put in place in order for the amendment to work in that way. To my mind, that would give the true neutrality that he is seeking to achieve. Rather than set out why something does not work, he c…”

“Following on from the point made by the hon. Member for Bradford West, has the Minister taken into account the guidance on private Members’ Bills? It says exactly what the hon. Member has just set out: the spirit of amendments should be taken, and it is for the Government to ensure that the integrity of the statute is …”

“rose—”

“I am just making the point that palliative care has deteriorated in jurisdictions that have introduced assisted dying. Therefore, we need to bear that in mind for this country if assisted dying is introduced. This is also about competition for time and resources. One palliative care provider in Ontario has been cited a…”

“Technically, our palliative care can be described as world leading, but we would all agree that much more is needed.”

“It is in the top quartile. That does not mean it is good enough—not by any stretch—but I would prefer not to see it fall down.”

“I thank the hon. Lady for keeping me on track. These points are important because I am setting out the importance of protecting the hospice sector, which is what these amendments seek to do. I am setting out the context that hospices currently face, and the challenges that they will potentially face if assisted dying i…”

“I have real sympathy for that situation, because no one wants to see that. That is why it is really important to be clear up front. I would like care homes and hospices to be clear with their policy, so that when people make decisions about where to have their care or where to live, they can take it into account. I tot…”

“I thank my right hon. Friend and am sure I will come to his point. I echo what my hon. Friend the Member for East Wiltshire said about the definition of “assistance” in clause 23. If this legislation is to genuinely respect the preferences of doctors and other professionals, it is essential that “assistance” is read as…”

“I do not think we should make the mistake of thinking belief is necessarily religious. I do not adhere to any faith, but I have beliefs about certain things that are protected—those beliefs are protected, and they do not necessarily have to relate to a religion. We are getting philosophical now!”

“I go back to my previous comment: I suggest that belief would be the protected characteristic.”

“I apologise to my hon. Friend; I probably should not have used him as an example in that way—it is getting late. I actually think that this clause would benefit more those organisations that support assisted dying. It would ensure that they have the right people who support it working in there. We want patients to get …”

“It is clear that the hon. Member for Harrogate and Knaresborough is trying to create equity, which we all understand. We need to think about the patient on the one hand, but also the doctors, nurses and medical practitioners involved. Does my hon. Friend agree that we need to think about the obligation and impact of su…”

“The Minister is being incredibly patient with our questions. The question from the hon. Member for Ashford raises exactly the point with which I am uncomfortable. To me, the phrase “assist that person to ingest” means something else. I am really concerned that it could be interpreted differently from how the Minister h…”

“I am going to read subsection (6)(c) again. It says: “assist that person to ingest or otherwise self-administer the substance.” I would interpret that slightly differently from the Minister. It talks about ingesting, which suggests the substance entering the body, so I would not suggest that sitting someone up would qu…”

“The answer is no, I have not done any research on that, so I cannot comment. Following this sitting, I will look into it, because the hon. Lady raises a very interesting point. This comes back to the eloquent explanation from my hon. Friend the Member for East Wiltshire that, on the one hand, there is the autonomy—we w…”

“I completely agree. While I was preparing my speech, as is often the way, I found myself wishing that I had tabled an amendment to add a legal requirement that the family be able to feed into the panel and share information. Perhaps that is something that can be picked up at a later stage. The nature of the process is …”

“I thank the Minister for the very clear way in which she is explaining everything. I completely acknowledge what she has just said. As she rightly said, I alluded to the fact that I tried to make the change at an earlier stage, but was unsuccessful, and I am now trying to put it through here. Can the Minister comment o…”

“My hon. Friend is making a powerful point. One of my concerns is about what happens if someone seeks assisted dying privately through a clinic. I see risks with multidisciplinary teams involving social workers continuing in that instance. Does my hon. Friend share my concern?”

“I am making a point regarding if a person fitted the diagnosis in that they are terminally unwell, but it is actually the fact that they have got nowhere to live that is really driving the decision rather than the terminal illness. My apologies if that was not clear. In Oregon there was the case of Barbara Wagner, who …”