Speeches by Olney.

“I beg to move amendment 273, in clause 29, page 17, line 33, at end insert— “(1A) Regulations under subsection (1) must specify that the following information is collected for each assisted death— (a) the person’s age, (b) the person’s gender, (c) the person’s ethnicity, (d) the postcode of the person’s address at the …”

“The Minister is talking about somebody making a medical judgment, which would obviously be the right thing to do in the normal course of events, but we are talking about a doctor being left in a position of not knowing whether to take a further step that would end somebody’s life or to take the step that would be natur…”

“Would it not be easier for workers in care homes and other institutions who have a conscientious objection to assisted dying to apply to work in a place where they know it is not going to happen, as opposed to needing to exercise their right to conscientiously object every time it comes up? Is that not a reason to supp…”

“I have nothing to add. Amendment 408 agreed to. Amendments made: 210, in clause 19, page 13, line 22, at end insert— “(2A) Regulations under subsection (2)(b) may in particular provide that the required training, qualifications or experience is to be determined by a person specified in the regulations.” This amendment …”

“Amendment 408 seeks clarity on a critical aspect of the legislation. Clause 19 allows a co-ordinating doctor to authorise another registered medical practitioner to carry out their functions, providing that the patient consents and that the replacement has completed training, qualifications and experience as specified …”

“I beg to move amendment 408, in clause 19, page 13, line 18, after “provided” insert “has been consulted and”. The amendment ensures the person has been consulted before they have given consent for another medical practitioner to be authorised to provide assistance.”

“I hope the Minister can answer a question for me. I hear what he is saying about concerns with the amendments themselves, which makes a lot of sense, and the policy objectives of the hon. Member for Spen Valley. What I am concerned about is that in the Bill as drafted, notwithstanding that various amendments have been …”

“rose—”

“I am listening to what the hon. Gentleman is saying, and a lot of what he is talking about in terms of giving doctors discretion makes a lot of sense in a routine medical intervention, but this is not a routine medical intervention. This is a very serious point, and the doctor’s judgment in this case could well fall ei…”

“The hon. Gentleman gives me an opportunity to conclude my remarks. I support amendment 429 because it is important to provide clarity that when we say “with the patient,” we mean in the room. However, I invite the Minister to expand further on the resource requirement of assisted dying. I want the doctor to remain with…”

“I am grateful for the hon. Gentleman’s professional experience, which is extremely helpful. He is absolutely right. Following the point made by the hon. Member for Banbury, we cannot define the circumstances in which a patient will find themselves when this is taking place. That is why it is incumbent on us to make sur…”

“The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. It is fundamental that, with this legislation, we provide very clear guidance to the medical practitioners who will be engaged in assisting patients with this matter. This is not only for their peace of mind that what they are doing is acceptable under the law, and accords with w…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Roger. I support amendment 429, tabled by the hon. Member for Bexleyheath and Crayford. I do not understand how subsection (9) can require the doctor to remain with the person until they have self-administered and died, or until they have decided not to self-admini…”

“I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. Amendments made: 207, in clause 13, page 9, line 20, leave out “Schedule 4” and insert “regulations made by the Secretary of State”. This amendment provides that the form of a second declaration is to be set out in regulations (rather than in…”

“That was the hon. Member’s response when I made my speech on the amendment in the previous sitting. I have reflected on that over the weekend. I still think that the issue of the voluntary stopping of eating and drinking is a very serious one that ought to be reflected somewhere in the legislation, but she is correct t…”

“What was successful about the illegal drugs strategy was having a Home Office-led team with staff from other Departments seconded into it, which is a different approach to the approach that you have used with your violence against women and girls strategy. Why was it different when it came to approaching violence again…”

“Are you saying, then, that you had this clear 10-year strategy for reducing drug use and you have not had that for violence against women and girls, and that is why you have not been able to replicate this structure?”

“Are you saying that, under the last Government, you did not have this clear set of objectives that mirrored what you had with the drugs strategy, meaning that there was a reason for setting up the VAWG strategy in a different way?”

“You mean the covid situation?”

“Good afternoon, panel. The prevalence of domestic abuse against women has fallen in the last decade, from 9.2% to 7.4%, but, over that same period, incidents of rape and sexual assault against women and girls has increased almost fourfold, from 34,000 to 123,000. Sir Matthew, I wonder if you could give me the Home Offi…”