Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill

Lord Johnson of Lainston Excerpts

2nd reading
Friday 12th September 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Johnson of Lainston (Con)]

My Lords, I feel pretty humbled by the debate so far and by the many people who wrote to me; I thank them for doing so. I feel certain that the nation is looking to us here today in this House to deliver on this final liberty—that of being able to decide how, in certain specific circumstances, one leaves this world. I know that there are rightly concerns about the Bill and how, in practice, the prospect of giving people this right will operate, and I do not take this lightly.

Obvious and reasonable objections have been well raised today, and these concerns must be answered by the body politic. We must be aware that people may feel pushed to end their life early, as we have just heard. Vulnerable people must be protected, and I am always sceptical as to how the state can be genuinely compassionate. Safeguarding, well-being and other such nomenclature are often simply a mechanism to protect institutions and facades behind which officials hide.

These are not technicalities. We should also not use this, as has been well raised, as an excuse to reduce funding for palliative and end-of-life care. For this to be right and proper, it must indeed be a genuine choice, not a false one. However, in reality, this Bill is more about decriminalising those who help me with a choice that I want to make than about giving me that choice in the first place. As the noble Lord, Lord Dubs, has just so eloquently said, we already have that choice, but it is absurdly complex and solitary, and those who love us are removed from the process.

This Bill changes that. It allows us to have access to proper care in this country; it enables us to have real dignity in our departure; and it ends these, in my view, absurd situations we currently endure, where a spouse is arrested, potentially at Heathrow, having taken their partner to Dignitas. The fact is that this is happening today, already, in the worst possible way, and this Bill, with however many issues it contains, is at least fundamentally better than the situation we currently suffer. To this end, we in this House must not let the complexities defeat us. We should not use the technical needs of regulation as a block on the principle. I, who fundamentally dislike all forms of regulation, actually, in this instance, support proper clarity for doctors and a structure for families around this urgent need. We should be more fearful of failing to deliver this freedom than of the risks that the freedom of choice may entail, because with freedom always come risks. It behoves us to use all our talents to find a way to deliver on this last and final right of our citizens.

I am an optimist. Legislation can be revised and reviewed. Secretaries of State can take common-sense decisions, it is true, and the medical and other professions can pride themselves on really owning the process over which they have control. This is all possible. People often ask: what is the House of Lords for? I say it is precisely for situations like today, where we focus on solving complex and highly sensitive problems with a single goal in mind, which is to allow people to live their lives as they want, free from pain and suffering, from the moment they are born to the very end. I look forward to working through this Bill with that single objective in my mind.

Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill

Lord Johnson of Lainston Excerpts

Report stage
Tuesday 27th June 2023 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Blake of Leeds (Lab)]

I add my recognition to the noble Baroness, Lady Kramer, for the extraordinary attention to detail and persistence that she has shown in taking forward this very important issue. I know that the Minister will talk to us about the review that is coming in, but there still remain certain aspects that could be brought in immediately—for example, an expectation that every company at least has a policy on whistleblowing. We do not have to wait for a review to achieve that.

We have heard some extraordinary testimony through the debates on the Bill, and the real heartache and personal cost that have befallen people who have not had a good experience. As the noble Baroness, Lady Altmann, said, too many people wait until their job or career comes to an end before they give any details, if they do at all, on the issues that concern them.

This is an extraordinarily important issue. We need to make sure that the pressure is on. I ask the Minister to give us some reassurance about the review, what will happen when it is concluded, and what the mechanism will be to make sure that its findings are put into practice.

[The Minister of State, Department for Business and Trade (Lord Johnson of Lainston) (Con)]

Before I speak to the amendment in this group, I draw your Lordships’ attention to my interests as set out in the register.

I turn to Amendment 136. I personally thank the noble Baroness, Lady Kramer, for raising the very important matter of whistleblowing. I have been extremely grateful for the time that she spent with me ahead of this debate, and look forward to continuing being an important conduit for her into the Government, trying to seek a good resolution around the noblest of intentions. I am also grateful to my noble friend Lady Altmann and the noble Baroness, Lady Blake, as always, for their useful, contributory, collaborative comments.

This Government recognise how valuable it is that whistleblowers are prepared to shine a light on wrongdoing and believe that they should be able to do so without fear of recriminations. This entire process fits within the spirit of the ECCT Bill. I pay tribute to the courage displayed by individuals who blow the whistle on wrongdoing.

I appreciate that there is real strength of feeling on this topic, but the Government’s position is still that it is premature to make legislative change ahead of the review of the whistleblowing framework, which has been mentioned in this debate. The Government recognise that there are different proposals for an office for the whistleblower, and the roles and functions that such a body could have.

The office risks duplication and confusion within the established whistleblowing framework. It is not necessarily clear how the office would interact with the existing prescribed persons, many of whom have regulatory powers in specific sectors. It may duplicate their role and responsibilities. It is also not clear how the office would interact with the current approach to detriment protection for whistleblowers and the role of the employment tribunal, and how whistleblowers and employers would be affected.

Secondly, there is an issue around the costs associated with establishing and running a body. It is not clear how the body would be funded, and we should think very carefully before committing taxpayers’ money, even though this is clearly a very important cause that deserves significant amounts of attention.

Finally, I would not want the Government to take such a dramatic step before they have fully considered the effectiveness of our existing framework as well. As I am sure noble Lords would agree, it would be premature to make legislative change before the ongoing review of the whistleblowing framework has concluded and the Government have assessed the evidence.

It is worth pointing out that we were one of the first countries to introduce a whistleblowing framework, and our framework is well established. Internationally, we are regarded as a leader in whistleblowing policy and our framework has been used as a model for other jurisdictions, such as Australia and Ireland. The whistle- blowing framework recognises that workers are actually the first line of defence for employers to detect and take action where wrongdoing is taking place or has the potential to do so. Workers who believe that they have been dismissed or otherwise detrimentally treated for making a protected disclosure can make a claim to the employment tribunal, which can award unlimited compensation.

Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill

Lord Johnson of Lainston Excerpts

2nd reading
Wednesday 8th February 2023 Lords Chamber

Moved by

[Lord Johnson of Lainston]

That the Bill be now read a second time.

[The Minister of State, Department for Business and Trade (Lord Johnson of Lainston) (Con)]

My Lords, I draw noble Lords’ attention to my registered interests, including as the director of and person with significant control of AMP Ventures, and as a shareholder of and person with significant control of several other companies. I do not believe that any of those are relevant to today’s debate.

Economic crime threatens our national security, prosperity and global influence. It underpins serious and organised crime and undermines legitimate business, causing great harm to individuals, our society and our economy. That is why this Government are determined to tackle economic crime and drive out dirty money.

We have already taken unprecedented action to prevent kleptocrats and organised criminals abusing our open economy. We were the first G20 country to establish a public register of domestic company beneficial ownership in 2016. We introduced new powers in the Criminal Finances Act 2017, including account-freezing orders, which in 2021-22 alone enabled £132 million-worth of assets to be frozen or seized. We secured £400 million through the spending review and the new economic crime levy to support law enforcement over the next three years. We established both the National Economic Crime Centre to co-ordinate the law enforcement response to economic crime and, more recently, the combating kleptocracy cell in the National Crime Agency to target corrupt elites.

With the support of this House, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, we took immediate steps by passing the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act. It introduced reforms to improve transparency in land ownership and to provide greater powers and more information to identify, investigate and take action against illicit wealth. It also helped the UK to act swiftly to impose sanctions against over 1,200 individuals and 120 entities linked to the Russian state. I was very pleased, as I am sure we all were, to hear President Zelensky praising these moves today in his moving speech to both Houses.

However, we know that this is a constantly evolving challenge. We must not be in any way complacent about the threat. Building on the first Act, we are pleased to bring to the House the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill. It will bear down even further on kleptocrats, criminals and terrorists who abuse our open economy, and it will strengthen the UK’s reputation as a place where legitimate business can thrive, while ensuring that dirty money has no place to hide.

The Bill will ensure that law enforcement and the private sector have the tools needed to help tackle economic crime, including fraud and money laundering, and it will deliver greater protections for members of the public and businesses. It forms part of the wider government approach, sitting alongside the key provisions in the Online Safety Bill, which will tackle online fraud, as well as the forthcoming second economic crime plan and fraud strategy, the delivery of which are all supported by the spending review settlement.

The Bill covers several areas, and I will now speak to the measures set out within it, starting with the reform of Companies House. The UK operates one of the world’s largest and most open economies. It is important to note that the vast majority of companies are formed and run by legitimate business owners, benefiting the economy and contributing to society. We want to maintain that ease of doing business and continue to welcome investment and legitimate business. However, while that brings prosperity and opportunity, it also exposes the UK to harmful practices, such as money laundering, corruption and terrorist financing. Our welcoming business environment is open to misuse by those who seek to undermine the business framework. The use of anonymous or fraudulent shell companies and partnerships provides criminals with a veneer of legitimacy and undermines the UK’s reputation as a sound place to do business.

The Bill will deliver significant reforms to the role of Companies House, marking the biggest change to our system of registering companies in over 170 years. The changes will improve transparency and bear down on the use of thousands of UK companies and other corporate structures as vehicles for economic crime, including fraud, money laundering, illicit finance, corruption, terrorist financing and illegal arms movements. The reforms will provide Companies House with the appropriate information, tools and powers to take action and better respond to abuse, thereby strengthening our business environment.

Through clauses in Part 1 of the Bill, we will introduce identity verification for new and existing directors, beneficial owners and those who file information with Companies House, helping to ensure that we know the real people acting for, and benefiting from, companies. The Bill also broadens the registrar’s powers so that the registrar becomes a more active gatekeeper over company creation and a custodian of more reliable data. Improving the financial information on the register will make it more reliable, complete and accurate, thereby supporting better business decisions and creating wider economic benefits. Part 1 will also provide Companies House with more effective investigation and enforcement powers and will introduce better cross-checking of data with other public and private sector bodies. We will also enhance the protection of personal information and addresses, thus helping to protect individuals from fraud and harm.

On limited partnership reform, Part 2 tackles the misuse of limited partnerships, including Scottish limited partnerships, while modernising the law governing them. We will tighten registration requirements and require limited partnerships to have a lasting connection to the UK. The Bill will also increase transparency requirements and provide the registrar with powers to deregister limited partnerships which are dissolved or no longer carrying on business, or where a court orders the dissolution because it is in the public interest.

Part 3 of the Bill makes some technical changes to the register of overseas entities that was legislated for in the first Act. These changes will maintain consistency with changes to the Companies Act and are intended to enhance the effectiveness of the register.

On crypto asset measures, the measures in Part 4 and its associated Schedules 6, 7 and 8 will provide additional powers to law enforcement officials, so they are able to more quickly and easily seize, freeze and ultimately recover crypto assets. The creation of a civil forfeiture power for crypto assets will mitigate the risk posed by those who cannot be criminally prosecuted but use their funds to further criminality or for terrorist purposes. These measures will modernise our proceeds of crime and counterterrorism legislation to ensure that crypto assets cannot be a conduit for money laundering, fraud, ransomware attacks or terrorist financing.

Measures in Part 5 of the Bill will enable better information sharing between certain businesses and with law enforcement to prevent and detect economic crime. It also provides new intelligence-gathering powers for law enforcement to tackle money laundering and terrorist financing. These reforms will enable the better detection and prevention of crime taking place across multiple businesses and will prevent criminals exploiting information gaps between them. Clause 174 also stream- lines the process for updating the UK’s high-risk third-country list.

The Bill will provide legal service regulators with enhanced enforcement powers to support them in upholding the economic crime agenda within their regulated community. A regulatory objective will be added to the Legal Services Act 2007—the LSA. The Solicitors Regulation Authority’s—SRA’s—statutory cap on the financial penalty powers for disciplinary matters related to economic crime will be removed, and the SRA will be able to proactively request information from its regulated community for the purpose of monitoring compliance with the economic crime regime. These measures will make clear to regulated bodies and individuals the expectations that government has of the regulators on this issue and support their ability to uphold sanctions and the wider economic crime regime.

The Bill will also enable the Serious Fraud Office to use its powers under Section 2 of the Criminal Justice Act 1987 at the pre-investigation stage in any SFO case, including fraud cases. This will support the Serious Fraud Office in delivering its functions and assist with the Government’s efforts to tackle fraud.

I conclude my opening remarks by highlighting the opportunity that we have in front of us. This Bill will make a difference to businesses, law enforcement and our citizens. Businesses will receive a better service from Companies House; law enforcement will receive new powers and better information to help root out criminals; and citizens will be better protected. This Bill is significant, and addresses several technically and operationally complex areas. The measures within it have undergone extensive and constructive scrutiny through the other place, particularly through the work of the Public Bill Committee. Through that process, we have listened and made several refinements and improvements.

In that vein, I also want to thank noble Lords for the support which was received during the passage of what became the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act. I am mindful of the pace at which that Bill was passed and noble Lords’ request to ensure that this second Bill is subject to a timetable which enables full and proper scrutiny. I welcome that further scrutiny, including today’s debate, and I look forward to engaging with all noble Lords on the Bill as we seek to ensure that it achieves the crucial objective of making our country, our businesses and our citizens safer. I beg to move.

--- Later in debate ---

Moved by

[Lord Johnson of Lainston]

That the bill be committed to a Committee of the Whole House, and that it be an instruction to the Committee of the Whole House that they consider the bill in the following order: Clauses 1 to 50, Schedule 1, Clauses 51 and 52, Schedule 2, Clauses 53 to 92, Schedule 3, Clauses 93 to 108, Schedule 4, Clauses 109 to 147, Schedule 5, Clauses 148 to 167, Schedule 6, Clause 168, Schedule 7, Clause 169, Schedule 8, Clauses 170 to 180, Schedule 9, Clauses 181 to 192, Title.

Motion agreed.