Speeches by Paul.

“Yes, absolutely, and that is clearly understood. The point I am making is that it is an opportunity to validate whether overall the subsidy approach that we are taking is at the right level, so we can potentially take some learnings from this contract. Clearly, you have to administer the contract as set out in the cont…”

“Thank you, Mr Pocklington, for that update. I have a quick question from the overview you gave. If the excess profits clawback is triggered, will that lead to a review of the overall approach to subsidies? That suggests that the subsidy is not set at the right level.”

“You mentioned various moral issues that you are not commenting on, but in reality the decision on this increases the number of people who would be considered to have capacity. I suggest that that might not actually be a neutral position to take; it has a broader impact.”

“Should the Government not be neutral on what framework for capacity the Committee might like to apply?”

“I thank the Minister for explaining that. Does he recognise that what is being said today is that operational reasons are driving the decision we make with respect to capacity? We are talking about a decision for someone to end their life. Does he not think that that would absolutely warrant us doing something that mig…”

“I rise to speak to my amendment 398. I recognise that much debate about capacity has already taken place, so I will do my best not to be too repetitive, but it is an important topic and I want to cover a few things. Fundamentally, I consider the bar for the capacity to make a decision to seek an assisted death to be fa…”

“The Minister has used the word “new” several times, and that is the crux of our argument: this is a new approach and a new process. Does the Minister agree that it warrants a different, more robust approach to looking at capacity?”

“I am so sorry, Mrs Harris.”

“I appreciate your giving way. The point that we are trying to make is that it is important to provide the information about palliative care. I understand the reservations of the hon. Member for Stroud about forcing someone to see a palliative specialist, but wording can be tweaked or changed to allow that choice. The k…”

“Will my hon. Friend give way?”

“Will the hon. Lady give way?”

“I know the hon. Member has a huge amount of experience on this matter given his career, so I thank him for that contribution. It must not be forgotten that it is the nature of such illnesses for there to be periods of unwellness, when people are at their lowest ebb, and it is our job to protect them from something that…”

“I am sharing the content of written evidence. People working in this arena—medical professionals and clinicians—have taken the time to submit written evidence, which suggests that they see a risk, so this is something that we need to think about. The hon. Gentleman could be right when he asks why someone would seek ass…”

“I thank my hon. Friend—another doctor. I would suggest that diabetes cannot be reversed, but can be managed with treatment. All I am trying to do is make sure that that piece is picked up. I think we all agree that we would not expect diabetes to fall within the terminal illness diagnosis. No fewer than 15 clinicians a…”

“I thank the hon. Lady for that extremely good news. That would definitely be helpful and provide some reassurance. Amendments 9 and 10 are essential to ensure that those people who are never intended to eligible for assisted dying under this Bill are kept outside of it. Amendment 9 seeks to ensure that it is not just i…”

“I thank the hon. Member for that thoughtful intervention, and I completely concede that it is not entirely clear, and there are different sources that describe it differently, which, for a non-medical person like myself, makes it difficult. There are certain websites, including NHS England, that may reference it as “pr…”

“I will speak to amendments 9 and 10, which were tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for South Northamptonshire (Sarah Bool). Members will spot the trend: I have been speaking in favour of a lot of her amendments. Amendments 9 and 10 would make sure the Bill does what it aims to do: ensure that assisted death is availab…”

“I thank the hon. Lady for raising that point. I think that what has been looked at is the number of unassisted suicides. The hon. Lady makes the good point that obviously we need to look at all the different factors that could be part of that, but I am just making the point that when we look at territories that have in…”

“I thank the hon. Member for his intervention, but I respectfully suggest that that is not the case and there is data. Professor David Paton found a 6% increase overall, and interestingly it was 13% for women.”

“Thank you, Mr Efford. I am perplexed as to why some of the straightforward improvements to the safeguards have not been accepted. That should give us all pause for thought. If everyone here wants this to be the safest assisted dying service in the world, we must learn from other territories and improve the safeguards. …”