Assisted Dying Bill [HL]

Debate between Lord Carlile of Berriew and Lord Davies of Stamford

Friday 7th November 2014 Lords Chamber

[Lord Davies of Stamford (Lab)]

I am grateful to the noble Lord for giving way. How long does he think that the whole of this process would take? What is the minimum amount of time that realistically would be involved if an independent report were required in writing? Does he not recognise that we are going to be dealing here largely with people who are suffering extreme pain or other discomfort and who would really wish to reduce the time to an absolute minimum when they have to continue to suffer that kind of condition?

[Lord Carlile of Berriew]

I do not know whether the noble Lord was here during the last debate—I apologise if he was—but I thought that that question was answered clearly. These things can be done very quickly indeed. Some of the answers could possibly be given in less time than it took the noble Lord to ask the question that he just asked.

Also in Amendment 67, a simple system is provided which involves the intervention of another independent person about how the act of assisted suicide would take place. That seems to be a straightforward safeguard.