Speeches by Shah.

“Would the Government’s intention not be to sign this duty over to a regulator?”

“If we are talking about employers and employees, not people who are accessing the service as service users, I hope the scenario to which my hon. Friend the Member for Penistone and Stocksbridge referred would not happen.”

“Amendment 273 would strengthen our position to collect that data, which is really important if we are serious about potentially reviewing the legislation by looking at the loopholes and at which communities are taking up assisted dying. The data in other jurisdictions says that it would be people from affluent backgrou…”

“My hon. Friend makes a valid point; that is an issue. If we are going to do this right, are we going to be looking at all six characteristics? That is important, so I agree with him.”

“I apologise, Mr Dowd. I will not refer to them. I come back to the point made by the hon. Member for East Wiltshire about DPP consent. I will be grateful if the Minister picks up some of these queries. In this place, we make laws. My experience of the law on forced marriage—I was a victim of forced marriage—was that we…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for her intervention, which gives me a lot to think about. That is why I said that I genuinely do not have the answers. I want to have this discussion so that I can make the choice whether to support the amendments. I want to explore this issue further, because it is really important.”

“I beg to move amendment 447, in clause 30, page 18, line 12, leave out “may” and insert “must”. This amendment requires the Secretary of State to issue Codes of Conduct.”

“I thank the hon. Member for East Wiltshire, who has raised some concerns for me. I rise to speak in support of the amendments, but also to raise some points. I share the hon. Gentleman’s concerns, but let me begin by speaking about the bits that I feel pleased with and able to support. My hon. Friend the Member for Spe…”

“Perfect. I thank my hon. Friend—I like it when we get to amendments that are supported. Amendment 447 would literally change the word “may” to “must” in clause 30. The first four matters that the clause lists are so important that issuing codes of practice cannot be left just as a choice for the Secretary of State; it …”

“Pharmacies have not been mentioned. Would they have the ability to opt out?”

“That is not what I am saying. I am saying very clearly that when we recruit people to any job, we ask them to have the values that we have as an organisation. I appreciate my hon. Friend’s intervention, but what he says is certainly not the point I am trying to make, and I cannot imagine anybody—even for religious reas…”

“My hon. Friend makes a very valid point: it is not straightforward. That is why people are tabling amendments and having this discussion—to iron this issue out and make sure we nail it, to make the process as safe as possible. There are laws in our country that protect people’s religious views—for example, we have the …”

“I have taken your advice, Mr Dowd, because my points would have made for a long intervention. First, I gently remind my hon. Friend the Member for Rother Valley that we have not used the word “disingenuous” in this Committee, so I sincerely wish that he reflects on that. Regardless of the debate we are having, everyone…”

“Absolutely not. I would be horrified if that were the case. I know we have had cutbacks and we do not have the access, but I cannot imagine any refuge of any religious belief in this country turning away a woman in the situation that my hon. Friend describes.”

“My hon. Friend is absolutely right that we need to clarify this. To sum up, this comes back to some of the questions I have for the Minister, and I wonder whether he can answer some of them. I say that especially because the Committee has had lots of debates on amendments tabled by the Government via my hon. Friend the…”

“In responding to my hon. Friend the Member for Sunderland Central, I appreciate that we do not want to put too much detail in the Bill, but with some of the commitments that we have made as a Government on collecting data we need to go further. That is for the simple reason that our equality laws are not right when we …”

“I thank the hon. Member. What he said is really helpful. I want to come back to the issue of opioids. As someone who suffers from chronic pain, my understanding is that I have a choice over whether I take opioids or other medication. So when people are allergic to opioids, they can potentially access other medication f…”

“I am speaking to the clause, Mr Dowd. I apologise—I will try to be clearer. Clause 25 creates a new offence, and I am trying to give an example of past legislation that speaks to the same principle. If we are creating a new offence that the DPP needs to consent to, and we already have an offence, then are we complicati…”

“My hon. Friend makes a really important point, and I absolutely hear what she is saying. If the woman were going into that hospice or care home when she was pursuing an assisted death, I am not sure how that would work.”

“Sorry, do I think which bit is acceptable?”