Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill

Baroness Scotland of Asthal Excerpts

Friday 21st November 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Falconer of Thoroton (Lab)]

My Lords, first, I am sure that I will not be able to reach the high standard of the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Chester, but I will try.

Secondly, I do not think I am rejecting the principle of many of the amendments. I am saying that—for example, in relation to an independent decision and to encouragement—the protection is there in practice. I also say to the noble Baroness, Lady Coffey, that her reference to organisations is something we could discuss. I think it may already be covered but let us discuss it.

The noble Lord, Lord Harper, is right: I am saying no to quite a lot of the amendments because, in my opinion, I do not think they are necessary and there is adequate protection. It does not mean I am not listening; but painful as it is, because I respect so many people who disagree with me, I do disagree with some people.

I am very conscious as well of what the Chief Medical Officer, Sir Chris Whitty, said, which is not to over-engineer this and make it a thicket people cannot get through. If you are serious about assisted dying, make sure it is genuinely accessible to people. I am trying to strike that balance.

[Baroness Scotland of Asthal (Lab)]

My Lords, I wonder if I might help my noble and learned friend on the concerns that clearly have been expressed. A number of noble Lords have been talking about what evidence there is. The concern was expressed in the last debate last Friday that if you are not going to have someone who has been intimately involved with the family or the person who is making the request, that becomes more difficult.

A number of suggestions have been made. For example, would it be possible to have a multidisciplinary assessment of need and coercion early, so that you could have the information? My noble and learned friend will know that when we make these multidisciplinary assessments, usually you hear from everyone—the social worker, the housing officer—just as we do for the multiagency risk assessment for domestic violence; and those domestic violence cases are really important. Will my noble and learned friend look again at how the Bill could make sure that the evidence upon which these decisions are going to be made is there?

Secondly, I will deal with the amendment from the noble Baroness, Lady Fox, on encouragement. My noble and learned friend will know—I disclosed this to the House, because, of course, I was the Attorney-General when the DPP’s guidelines were put out— that the whole purpose of looking at and assessing encouragement was to make sure that no one else had applied pressure. The word “encouragement” very much comes from the DPP’s guidelines, which has meant that since they came in, only four prosecutions have been made. They were made in relation to people who were identified as having participated in something which might have been homicide or manslaughter, and others were not prosecuted. I know that my noble and learned friend would think that entirely proper.

Will my noble and learned friend think again about looking at those issues to make sure, perhaps through regulations, that we can have that clarity, which might give reassurance to those who are desperately concerned about these issues?

[Lord Falconer of Thoroton (Lab)]

In relation to the multidisciplinary team, Amendment 222 from the noble Baroness, Lady Hollins, is a bit close to that but not quite there. On the question of encouragement, of course, the reason why the DPP’s guidelines refer to encouragement is that the criminal offence at the moment is encouraging suicide, and that deals with a completely different concept.

May I go on into Amendment 50—