Speeches by Kinnock.

“I can confirm that amendment 523 is a helpful amendment as 447 is incorporated, so that is all fine—we are good with that.”

“This group of amendments relates to clause 30 of the Bill and the codes of practice that may be issued by the Secretary of State. As the Bill is drafted, the Secretary of State may issue one or more codes of practice in connection with arrangements pertinent to the assisted dying process. Amendment 447 requires the Sec…”

“Thank you, Mrs Harris; you have helped me to answer the hon. Gentleman’s question in a far more pithy and direct way than I could have. I think it is best for us to wait for us to discuss clauses 32 and 39, when we can really get into the meat of the precise issue he raised. Amendment 521 would change the requirements …”

“Amendment 445 would require that the Secretary of State make regulations about enforcement, including provision of imposing civil penalties, when making regulations for prescribing, dispensing, transporting, storage, handling and disposal of approved substances, including the keeping of records relating to those activi…”

“My understanding is that the amendment would place the duty on a medical practitioner. I am speaking to the purpose and effect of the amendment, which is not about a regulator; it is about a medical practitioner. Does that answer my hon. Friend’s question?”

“It is a great pleasure to serve under your chairship today, Mrs Harris. Amendment 442 would require the Secretary of State to make regulations for the prescribing, dispensing, transporting, storage, handling and disposal of approved substances, including the keeping of records relating to those activities. That differs…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Dowd. Well done for arriving on time, by the way. These amendments aim to ensure that, if passed, this legislation will be legally and operationally workable. I will offer a technical, factual explanation and rationale for them. Amendments 501, 502 and 503 replace clau…”

“I agree with the sentiment of the hon. Gentleman’s intervention. The challenge is that the way in which the amendment is drafted could well lead to unintended consequences, because the scope is not clear. If we are not clear what the scope is, it could potentially be exponential. New clause 23 would prevent regulated c…”

“As I was saying, the scope of the term “premises” is unclear. Is it residential property, care home, hospice or indeed hospital? That is one of the challenges with the drafting of the amendment: the scope and definition of the term is not clear.”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship this morning, Ms McVey, even though it is a little later than originally planned. Amendment 480 is intended to extend the category of those protected from being obligated to participate in the provision of assisted dying under clause 23 from registered medical practitioner…”

“The right hon. Member sets out clearly the difference between self-administration—the concept at the heart of the Bill—and the performance of the act either jointly or by the doctor. The latter is not permitted under the terms of the Bill; the former is. That is where we are.”

“I thank the hon. Member for that intervention. The hon. Member for Solihull West and Shirley pointed out earlier that the scenario that he has just described would constitute more than assistance; it would be moving into administration by the doctor, rather than self-administration. I think that that aligns with the Go…”

“My interpretation is that it would not be, because if someone were actually tipping the pills into the mouth of the patient, they would be going through the act of putting the substance into the patient. This Bill is founded on the principle of self-administration. However, there are acts such as helping the patient to…”

“I will pretty much repeat what I have just said to my hon. Friend the Member for Ashford. There is a dividing line, as the Government see it, between assistance and administration. There is a dividing line between making the patient comfortable, enabling the procedure to take place, and the doctor actually putting the …”

“One of the fundamental principles of the Bill, which my hon. Friend the Member for Spen Valley has prioritised, is self-administration. It is not for me as a Minister to opine on that; it is simply there in the Bill. Once that fundamental principle is established, it is about defining what “assistance” means, compared …”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Roger. Before I speak to amendments 497 and 498, on which the Government have worked with my hon. Friend the Member for Spen Valley, let me address amendments 462 and 463. Amendment 462 would amend clause 18 to require the co-ordinating doctor to explain to the person…”

“Clause 17(2) provides that where a notice or indication regarding a cancellation of a first or second declaration is given to a registered medical practitioner “at” the person’s GP practice, that practitioner must record the cancellation in the person’s medical records as soon as possible. Amendment 479 seeks to clarif…”

“The purpose of amendments 474 to 478 is to improve the drafting of the Bill by creating a new definition of “recordable event”. Recordable events are the events set out in clause 16(1) related to the recording of declarations and statements. The amendments would also make consequential changes to clause 16, which refer…”

“The Bill, once it becomes an Act, places a legal duty on the Secretary of State to produce those regulations. The Secretary of State would be in breach of the law if he were not to enforce the conclusions of the Act.”

“The regulations will have primacy, and will be shaped by a range of inputs, including the conversation we have just had in Committee. The process is that the Bill gets Royal Assent, then the regulations are drawn up based on a range of consultations and inputs—including the Hansard. The regulations then become the basi…”