Speeches by Kruger.

“As always, the hon. Gentleman is making a helpful and intelligent speech, and I appreciate the distinction that he is trying to draw. There is a lot to say, and I will respond more when I wind up, but does he think that it would be an acceptable condition of a lease—or whatever the living arrangement is for residents o…”

“I support the principle of insisting that inducing people by dishonesty, coercion or pressure to kill themselves should be illegal, but my understanding is that it already is. If it is not illegal, or if there are circumstances in which we need this additional offence that are not already captured by the Suicide Act or…”

“I respect the difficulty of the position that the Minister is in, but I am afraid that we have to consider hypothetical scenarios, because we are creating law. Does she acknowledge that, even if she cannot imagine, or cannot suggest to us, a case that falls under the provisions of this clause, but is not caught by the …”

“I acknowledge the point that the Minister is making. To the point made by my right hon. Friend the Member for North West Hampshire, we are talking not about two categories of offence within the same legal framework, namely GBH, but about two different legal frameworks altogether, the law of homicide and the law on assi…”

“It is good to see you this evening, Mrs Harris. I have no objection to the hon. Lady’s amendments. I think there is value in broadening the offence to include actions performed intentionally or recklessly, as that is critical for patient safety. Given the finality of the result of assisted death, there should not be an…”

“I appreciate that—there might be very little choice or no alternative. I am speaking in terms of the reality of life. We can do everything we can through the law to obviate reality—to give people as much autonomy as possible, even though they are very dependent on other people. That is why it is so important to conside…”

“It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Members for Ashford and for Banbury. I entirely concur with their points, particularly those that derive from the expertise of the hon. Member for Ashford. This is a very important group of amendments, which concern what is in a sense the heart of the Bill—the management of the letha…”

“Sorry, Mrs Harris. I do not appreciate the sense of impatience in the Committee; these are very important matters.”

“Absolutely; that is what I am doing. I referenced the debate we had last night, which I hope is within scope, because the suggestion has been either that the Bill insufficiently addresses the need for a regulatory regime for the approval of drugs specifically for the purpose of assisted dying or, as the Government are …”

“Further to the intervention from the hon. Member for Bradford West, I would like to understand whether the Minister envisages an independent regulator of any sort being responsible for overseeing the regime? We currently do not know what that will be—a future Secretary of State will design it—but does he envisage that …”

“We look forward to the amendments that the Government are working on, but, as part of that process, does the Minister envisage that there will be amendments to NHS legislation itself?”

“It might appear a procedural issue, but does the hon. Lady acknowledge that there is a profound difference between the negative and affirmative procedure? Why is she content that the regime for the regulation of these lethal drugs, which are at the absolute core of her Bill, be subject to the discretion of the Secretar…”

“Nevertheless, the hon. Lady is proposing that this passes through Parliament, just through the negative procedure. If she thinks there is an appropriate rubberstamp by Parliament—that Parliament needs to approve this regime—why should it not have the opportunity to debate it?”

“I beg to move amendment 522, in clause 29, page 17, line 14, leave out subsection (1). In a letter to the editor of The Telegraph, the former chief coroner of England and Wales, Thomas Teague KC, wrote that clause 29 “would prohibit a coroner from investigating any death where the duty to do so arises only because the …”

“The concern is that it should be automatic. I just cite Professor Ahmedzai’s recognition of the frequent necessity, or the distinct possibility, of a referral to the coroner being appropriate. I suggest that it should happen as a matter of course. I would be grateful to understand from the hon. Lady or the Minister und…”

“I will respond quickly. My concern is that, as Thomas Teague said, without clause 29 the coroner would be under a statutory duty to investigate. I recognise that there is an opportunity for an investigation if a family member or the medical practitioner decides to refer it to the coroner. It is unlikely—although they m…”

“I think the hon. Member for Penistone and Stocksbridge meant the previous Conservative and Liberal Democrat Government—just to be strictly accurate.”

“That is helpful and makes sense. The only justification for duplication must be that the duplication is only partial, which the Minister has just suggested it is. Not a complete overlap—some cases will fall into one category, but not into the other. I wonder if she could help us to understand with an example that would…”

“I beg to move amendment 446, in clause 29, page 18, line 9, at end insert— “(4) The Secretary of State must, by regulation, specify the data sets which must be made available by the Registrar General for England and Wales. (5) Any regulations made under subsection (4) are subject to the affirmative procedure.” This ame…”

“These amendments were tabled by the hon. Member for York Central. As discussed, clause 29 requires the Registrar General to “prepare and lay before Parliament a report providing a statistical analysis of deaths” arising. We have spoken before about the paucity of data from other jurisdictions and the problems arising w…”