Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill

Debate between Lord Falconer of Thoroton and Lord Pannick

Committee stage
Friday 9th January 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Pannick (CB)]

I am sorry but, with the greatest respect, the noble Baroness has not listened or read what is in the Bill. If any of the three members is unwise enough to abstain—I agree that it is highly undesirable that they should—because they are not satisfied that the case is made out, eligibility is not satisfied and, therefore, the person concerned cannot take advantage of the provisions of this Bill. Again, if the noble and learned Lord, Lord Falconer, thinks that I have misunderstood this, he will say so, but he is nodding. The noble Baroness really needs to read the Bill.

[Lord Falconer of Thoroton (Lab)]

I agree with the noble Lord’s assessment.

[Lord Pannick (CB)]

If the noble Baroness reads the Bill, her concern will be addressed.

Then we need to look at paragraph 8 of Schedule 2, which tells the commissioner that he or she

“may give guidance about … practice and procedure”.

I would be very surprised if the practice and procedure did not allow for interested parties to be heard or provide—this is another point made by the noble Lord, Lord Carlile—documents to be requested. If they were not requested and a person did not supply relevant documents, I would expect one of the three members of the panel not to be satisfied.

Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill

Debate between Lord Falconer of Thoroton and Lord Pannick

Thursday 8th January 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Pannick (CB)]

The noble Lord, Lord Gove, asks: how much extra time? The answer surely is that that depends on what progress we make tomorrow and next week. Can I simply say this? There are many difficult issues posed by this Bill, but this Motion is not difficult at all. We are simply being asked to vote that this House believes that extra time should be granted to the extent required to ensure that we can come to a conclusion, whether it is in favour of this Bill, whether it is against this Bill or whether it is that the Bill should be amended. Let us get on and approve this Motion.

[Lord Falconer of Thoroton (Lab)]

My Lords, I think we have exhausted the debate. There is widespread support for this Motion, and for that I am incredibly grateful. Can I say just one thing? What this Motion, if passed, means is that the House is saying loudly, clearly and, I hope, unanimously that our job is to get to the end of the process of scrutinising the Bill.

I shall answer just two or three particular points that have been made. What is at the heart of it is the questions raised by the noble Lord, Lord Stevens, and the noble and learned Lord, Lord Garnier. What will we do and how long will it take? I agree with the answer given by the noble Lord, Lord Pannick. We need to craft informally a process that ensures that we get to the end of the process.

The Leader of the House was kind enough to say that, if this Motion were to pass, the usual channels would, in effect, convene a meeting and we would then seek a way forward. I have to say I am incredibly attracted to the things that the noble Lord, Lord Carlile, has said: not his opposition to the Bill, I hasten to add, but to the proposition that there are—and this number may be wrong—about 10 crucial issues in relation to this Bill. Let us immediately try to identify what those 10 or so issues are and then reach a process by which we go through them. To the credit of the noble Lord, Lord Carlile, that has been his position all along. He very helpfully led us to an identification of those 10 issues and we tried to do a grouping that reflected that, but it did not command support. I think we should look at that again.

It is so important for the House to come to the right conclusion. If we pass this Motion now, we will send a signal that our job is to craft a structure that means that we can get through the Bill.