Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill

Debate between Baroness Falkner of Margravine and Lord Falconer of Thoroton

Committee stage
Friday 30th January 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Falconer of Thoroton (Lab)]

The noble Lord notified me of that beforehand; I thank him greatly for his courtesy.

May I briefly refer to the contents of the debate? First, the noble Baroness mentioned devolution. I have nothing to add in relation to devolution, but it felt like she was aiming more at the Government than at me. I am very supportive of the Government in this respect, but I had to say something in relation to that.

I will focus primarily on what my noble friend Lord Rooker said. I do not say this without thinking about it. I have the greatest respect for my noble friend, having been in government—though not as long as him, because I was sacked three years before he was sacked, and he was sacked only because the electorate replaced the Labour Government with a Conservative Government. He survived throughout the whole thing.

My noble friend is, in broad outline, right when he says that Clause 1 contains the spine—the trunk—of the Bill. I believe that this moment very much represents an opportunity for us as a House to see whether there is a way to get through this in time to send the Bill back. I completely accept what my noble friend said about my responsibility for bringing forward, as quickly and as well as possible, the areas where he was kind enough to say that I had been clear about my amendments. So I welcome the door that my noble friend has opened. I am more than willing, in relation to each of the areas where I have identified that I am willing to move, to sit down and try to agree, as much as possible, what those movements should be. I am absolutely sure that we will not agree on everything, but we can determine the things on which we do not agree on Report. So I welcome enthusiastically what my noble friend said about the way forward.

May I deal briefly with what the noble Baroness, Lady Falkner, said? Obviously, I am not responsible for either the impact assessment or the equality impact assessment. I must say, having read the points made by the commissioner of the EHRC, I think that the Government are right: it does not justify either a new impact assessment or a new equality assessment. The Government have been absolutely clear on why they think that, in principle, the Bill does not offend against the convention or the Human Rights Act. They have also been incredibly helpful, through Ministers, in saying where they think amendments might give rise to problems. It is perfectly legitimate for the Government to say, “We’re worried about amendments” but not to introduce a whole new assessment in relation to them.

[Baroness Falkner of Margravine (CB)]

Does the noble and learned Lord agree that, when courts in the United Kingdom rule that the public sector equality duty cannot be an afterthought—that it has to be complied with throughout and that Parliament needs to be aware of changes in circumstances or new issues that come up—it needs to be abided by? I am sorry; I cannot remember the title of the court case I referenced, but I am sure the noble and learned Lord will be able to find it in Hansard.

[Lord Falconer of Thoroton (Lab)]

I am well aware of the court case. It does not justify a new equality assessment in this case.

[Baroness Falkner of Margravine (CB)]

I was talking about the applicability of the public sector equality duty.

[Lord Falconer of Thoroton (Lab)]

I do not think that it justifies a new equality assessment. The thing about equality assessments is that lawyers can constantly write to clients and say, “You haven’t considered this and you haven’t considered that”. Having read in detail the equality assessment, I say that it deals properly and adequately with the issues.