Lords
Debate
24 April 2026
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, I remind the House that Harold Shipman was a murderer convicted of 15 life sentences plus four years. He did not provide an assisted death. I would like that to be on the record.
I stand here as a general practitioner with over 40 years’ experience and, as I have said many times, as presi…
Lords
Debate
27 March 2026
2 contributions
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, I will speak to the main theme of this group, but particularly to Amendment 679 in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Grey-Thompson, which I believe is essential if we are to safeguard the valuable work of faith-based hospices and care homes, along with other institutions, that have a co…
I think that the noble Baroness will be under no illusion: I am personally against the Bill, because I do not believe in it. But if there is a Bill, we have to have any protection in it—that is completely different. Therefore, in the context of the suggestion that, because I am personally opposed to…
Lords
Debate
20 March 2026
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, I have tabled Amendments 540B and 544A in this group. My intention with these amendments is to probe how we have ended up with the list of eligibility criteria for qualifying for an independent advocate contained in Clause 22(4). These provide that a person may qualify for an independent a…
Lords
Debate
18 March 2026
3 contributions
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords—
My Lords—
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Debate
18 March 2026
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, if noble Lords in this House do not believe that the noble Baroness, Lady Foster, is giving the answer to a problem that is a reality within our society, then I hope that the Minister, if he is not accepting this, will tell us what the answer is. The noble Baroness, Lady Fox, talked about …
Lords
Debate
13 March 2026
2 contributions
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, there are a number of key objectives outlined in the amendments that we have been discussing for some time now, which are worthy of our most serious consideration. I suppose that the burden of the amendment is that doctors should be prohibited from initiating discussions about assisted dyi…
I am finishing with this quotation, and it is just a couple of sentences:
“We also know that when you acquire disability, which most people do … it is absolutely frightening … If doctors are not on our side because they are thinking, ‘Should we mention the fact that they could have an assisted deat…
Lords
Oral Questions
3 March 2026
Assisted Dying Legislation: Isle of Man and Jersey
My Lords, the Crown dependencies are self-governing jurisdictions with their own democratically elected Parliaments. The UK is not responsible for looking at the content or the policy of any legislation that they pass, but merely for checking that it is compatible, for example, with the European con…
Lords
Debate
27 February 2026
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, I follow the noble Baroness in speaking to the issue of the commissioner. The shift from the High Court to a commissioner has been compounded. The Bill originally proposed that a High Court judge would authorise every assisted death—a feature initially championed by the Bill’s sponsor in t…
Lords
Debate
6 February 2026
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, I support Amendments 89, 91, 92, 101 and 103. Surely we need to demonstrate that what we term safeguards in the Bill against voluntarily becoming terminally ill are adequate and do not allow for voluntary acts to accelerate the timeline or even to create eligibility for assisted suicide. T…
Lords
Debate
2 February 2026
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, some of us have been sitting through this debate right from the very beginning. Others have come in late and then made certain speeches. I notice that the noble Lord had to read what he had to say as well. Therefore, I will just say to him very gently, and as graciously as I can, that this…
Lords
Debate
30 January 2026
3 contributions
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, earlier in the debate, the noble Baroness, Lady Jay of Paddington, intervened to say that she could not understand why, having talked so much, we had not actually talked about terminal illness. If the noble Baroness remains in her place, she will be here for the fifth group of amendments, …
I was not speaking against someone being in the room. I am speaking about someone being in the room whenever it is on Zoom or on camera and not in person, because you do not know whether the person in the room is privately and secretly coercing that person.
+1 more contribution in this session
Lords
Debate
27 January 2026
Crime and Policing Bill
My Lords, I r support Amendment 450 in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Foster. Like the noble Baroness, and many others in this Chamber, the legacy of terrorism is not merely an abstract term for me. It is not a sentence on a piece of paper. It is a real legacy that still affects people to this…
Lords
Debate
23 January 2026
10 contributions
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
Part of the noble Lord’s argument is based on assisted suicide being so popular with the general public that 70% of people want it. If that is so, perhaps he can help me to understand why none of the parties in this House put in their manifesto that they want assisted dying?
My Lords, I listened carefully to what the noble Baroness, Lady Royall, said, but I believe it is important that Members who feel they have a contribution to make are able to make that contribution without being cut short.
+8 more contributions in this session
Lords
Debate
9 January 2026
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, I want to draw the implications for Northern Ireland into the conversation on the amendments from the noble Lord, Lord Carlile. Clearly, Northern Ireland has its own family court system, which, incidentally, has its own issues and backlog. However, that does not mean that people in Norther…
Lords
Debate
5 January 2026
Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill
My Lords, like my colleague, I support Amendment 32 in the names of the noble Baroness, Lady Foster and Lady Meyer, and the noble Lords, Lord Callanan and Lord Hannan; I also support Amendments 19 and 33 in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Purvis.
The proposal that Amendment 32 addresses is of majo…
Lords
Debate
12 December 2025
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, like many noble Lords, I grew up at a time when the family doctor was looked upon as a family friend who could always be depended on whenever you were ill or in a time of crisis. Unfortunately, that is not the situation today. There is a major problem across the United Kingdom: patients de…
Lords
Proceedings
10 December 2025
Northern Ireland Troubles: Operation Kenova
My Lords, does the Minister acknowledge the debt of gratitude that we owe to the intelligence services, our Armed Forces and the courageous members of the RUC? It was by their action, infiltrating the IRA right to the very top of the republican movement, that many lives were saved—including my own. …
Lords
Debate
21 November 2025
2 contributions
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, I support the amendments in this group. They are important because, unlike the noble Baroness, Lady Hayter, I do not know what the outcome of this debate will be at the end. She might have some other knowledge of how this House will vote, but I certainly do not know the answer. Therefore, …
I do not believe that people are tabling amendments simply to wreck the Bill. That may be the noble Lord’s opinion, but he should remember that other people have different opinions. I respect the noble Lord’s opinion, but I hope that he will in turn respect my right to have an opinion. I believe tha…
Lords
Statutory Instrument
20 November 2025
Radio Equipment (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2025
My Lords, I have been provoked to respond to what the noble Baroness, Lady Ritchie, has said. I had some difficulty in following her, but that might be more my fault than hers—I think it is not, but that is by the way. She went on at some length about the dual membership. Let me very clear to your L…
Lords
Debate
18 November 2025
Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill
My Lords, I will refer to Amendment 24 in my name. I thank the Minister for her gracious remarks earlier in the debate. I can assure the Committee that I will not detain it as long this time. The amendment asks a simple and poignant question. Should the British taxpayer be compelled to fund a treaty…
Lords
Debate
18 November 2025
2 contributions
Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill
My Lords, Amendments 37, 49 and 56 in this group stand in my name. These are no ordinary circumstances. As my noble friends have alluded to, a group of Chagossians, totalling more than 650, contacted me in writing and asked whether I would consider tabling some amendments and exploring them on the F…
I am coming to a conclusion. I understand what it is like to feel ignored and sidelined; to have someone in Government tell you that your identity is second class; that you cannot really be a full British citizen. I know what it is like to have fought for your rights to represent your people when a …
Lords
Debate
14 November 2025
2 contributions
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
I have listened very carefully to the noble Lord and a number of others. I am still struggling to understand what the higher test of ability would be, over and above the Mental Capacity Act. Will the noble Lord let the House know what that higher test is that people would have to go through on abili…
I wonder whether I can help the Committee. I think we may be discussing two rather different things, so I suggest that we decide which of them to discuss.
There is the discussion as to whether the word “capacity” really includes all the things that people are pressing for when they use the word “ab…
Lords
Debate
12 September 2025
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
My Lords, it is a privilege to be able to take part in a debate such as this. Even if I disagree with some of the views that have been put forward, I fully respect the sincerity with which they have been put forward.
I pay tribute to Kim Leadbeater. She has done a tremendous job. For her tenacity, …
Lords
Debate
16 July 2025
Employment Rights Bill
My Lords, I want to thank the noble Baroness, Lady Grey- Thompson, for introducing this amendment. I also want to thank the noble Lord, Lord Wigley, for the very powerful personal testimony he has given in this House. It is never easy; there is nothing more difficult for any parent than to walk the …