Assisted Dying Bill [HL]

Baroness Eaton Excerpts

2nd reading
Friday 22nd October 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Eaton (Con)]

My Lords, my noble friends Lady Seccombe, Lady Neville-Rolfe, Lady Morris of Bolton and Lady Manzoor all apologise for not being here and wish to be associated with my comments this afternoon.

No one can be forced to go on living. To treat a person without consent, even if life-prolonging, is unlawful. Any person can refuse or halt life-extending treatment, and doctors have a duty of care to alleviate any resulting pain or distress. This was well illustrated by the death of Noel Conway, who had motor neurone disease. He had campaigned for a change in the law, and he died peacefully in June, after asking for the artificial ventilation keeping him alive to be removed.

There already exists a right to die, but what does not exist is a right to require a third person to play a part in killing another. There is no right to die in international law, as confirmed in Pretty v United Kingdom in 2002. The European Court of Human Rights did not consider the blanket nature of the ban on assisted suicide to be disproportionate.

Assisted suicide is far from a fully autonomous decision. Suffering patients may choose assisted suicide out of a sense of responsibility to their families or communities, rather than from a personal desire to die. Autonomy then becomes a form of abandonment. Laws form social opinions. An assisted suicide law, however well intended, would alter society’s attitude towards the elderly, seriously ill and disabled, sending the subliminal message that assisted suicide is an option they ought to consider.

Canada has been criticised by successive United Nations special rapporteurs on the rights of persons with disabilities for the impact of its assisted suicide law on persons with disabilities. Significant concern was expressed at a growing trend to enact legislation enabling access to medically assisted dying based largely on having a disability or disabling conditions, including old age.

The right to die can easily become the duty to die, as the suicides of the elderly and infirm become normalised. Dutch ethicist Professor Theo Boer, who changed his position after reviewing thousands of cases of euthanasia, noted:

“Pressure from relatives, in combination with a patient’s concern for their wellbeing, is in some cases an important factor behind a euthanasia request. Not even the Review Committees, despite hard and conscientious work, have been able to halt these developments.”


I cannot support the Bill.

Non-fatal Strangulation and Suffocation

Baroness Eaton Excerpts

Thursday 8th July 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Wolfson of Tredegar (Con)]

My Lords, I recently answered questions on the End-to-End Rape Review Report, which set out a robust programme of work right across the criminal justice system and beyond to make sure that we respond appropriately to rape and sexual violence offences. We want to increase the number of cases reaching court, reduce the number of victims who withdraw from the process and ultimately put more rapists behind bars.

[Baroness Eaton (Con) [V]]

My Lords, is the Minister aware of the Training Institute on Strangulation Prevention in California, which is helping tackle the crime of strangulation by sharing knowledge and training resources in the United States? Does he agree that, given the very welcome new offence in the Domestic Abuse Act, it would be sensible to investigate how a similar centre for expertise here could help drive the changes that the Government are making to tackle strangulation and suffocation? It could share training resources, encourage the sharing of knowledge and co-ordinate research so that more victims of this violence could be protected, and more offenders held to account for these crimes.

[Lord Wolfson of Tredegar (Con)]

My Lords, I am confident that my officials will be aware of that programme, but I personally am not. Could my noble friend write to me—or I will write to her—so that we can exchange information about that? It sounds like a very useful programme and I would be very happy to learn more about it.

Marriage and Religious Weddings

Baroness Eaton Excerpts

Monday 28th June 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Wolfson of Tredegar (Con)]

My Lords, the noble and learned Lord knows that it is a high priority, because this is one of the issues that both the Law Commission and the Nuffield Foundation are looking at. We have also looked at the sharia review. As I have said, our position is that we want to make sure that people are properly protected, though I would suggest that it is as much a matter of education as it is of legislation.

[Baroness Eaton (Con) [V]]

My Lords, numerous independent reports, including those commissioned by the Government, have confirmed that some sharia councils embed discrimination against women, including against those women who use sharia council services on matters of marriage and divorce. Given that countless women are suffering as a result, may I press my noble friend the Minister for an assurance that we will see government legislation sooner rather than later?

[Lord Wolfson of Tredegar (Con)]

My Lords, people may choose to abide by the interpretation and application of sharia principles if they wish to do so—that is a matter of religious freedom—provided that their actions do not conflict with the national law. But, importantly, all individuals retain the right to seek a remedy through the English courts in the event of a dispute. For these purposes, the law of England and Wales in relation to the inheritance of property will prevail. We are looking at legislation, and I will of course update the House and my noble friend as and when we reach a decision.

Prisons: Self-harm Among Women Prisoners

Baroness Eaton Excerpts

Monday 15th March 2021 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Baroness Eaton]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to address the level of self-harm among women prisoners.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Justice (Lord Wolfson of Tredegar) (Con)]

My Lords, we are determined to reduce the level of self-harm in the women’s estate. We have established a women’s estate self-harm task force to address this. Alongside interventions to mitigate the impact of Covid-19, such as increased video calls with loved ones, the task force is co-ordinating longer-term work—including the introduction of key workers, expanding therapeutic services and improving gender-specific training—to address the factors driving self-harm in the women’s estate.

[Baroness Eaton (Con) [V]]

I thank my noble friend the Minister for his reply. Female offenders are more vulnerable than male offenders and benefit from help and guidance from social workers. One of the recommendations in the Farmer review of female offenders published in 2019 was to have a social worker based in all prisons to support vulnerable women. What progress has been made to achieve this?

[Lord Wolfson of Tredegar (Con)]

My Lords, my noble friend raises an important point. We are working to improve the availability of social work in prisons. She will be aware, of course, that at the moment all prisons are hampered by the Covid-19 pandemic in what they can provide. However, for example, we have been able to reintroduce chaplaincy into prisons at a very significant level, and the relevant authorities are trying to ensure that all services, including social workers, can be reintroduced as well.