Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill

Lord Lemos Excerpts

Friday 9th January 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord in Waiting/Government Whip (Lord Lemos) (Lab)]

I do not want to interrupt the noble Lord but I am sure that it will be useful for him to know that the Minister will respond on the question of resources when the time comes.

[Lord Harper (Con)]

That is very good. I am glad that the noble Lord has confirmed that the Minister will respond; I look forward to her doing so.

My final point concerns whether the Bill’s sponsors have carried out the modelling and costings that their proposals will require. Have those been put before this House so that we can make the appropriate decisions?

--- Later in debate ---

With the grace of the Committee, the final thing I will say is that there is something here about statistics. It will be very important to make sure that we get an understanding of what is happening—

[Lord Lemos (Lab)]

I ask the noble Baroness to draw her comments to a close. The time indicator is flashing.

[Baroness Coffey (Con)]

Yes, I will. I am just saying that it is really important that we get statistics, and that this becomes the premise of the Lord Chancellor. This will be critical to making sure that we have confidence going forward and I will have to work out a way to reassess these amendments in future groups.

--- Later in debate ---

[Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne (Con)]

My Lords—

[Lord Lemos (Lab)]

No, I am sorry; the Minister has made it clear that she will try to take any interventions at the end if there is time.

[Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne (Con)]

My Lords—

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Lemos (Lab)]

I think the noble and learned Lord can respond to the noble Baroness’s point.

[Lord Falconer of Thoroton (Lab)]

I am not sure, particularly given the way in which the noble Baroness addressed the issue at the very end, that this is a point about panel versus judge. I would expect a judge to be experienced and able to deal with somebody who is deaf, and if they are not able to, they should be. Equally, I would expect a panel to deal with that in the same way. In all honesty, that was not a factor in determining whether panel or judge was better. Both would have to deal with that.

--- Later in debate ---

Amendment 25 withdrawn.

[Lord Lemos (Lab)]

My Lords, that group took more than three hours, as the noble Lord, Lord Carlile, said. It is a very important group, and we knew it would be a long one, and it does deal with one of the issues at the heart of the Bill. I am particularly grateful to the speakers who did not take all their allotted time, and I know many did not. We did all agree last night that the Bill would need more time. The noble and learned Baroness, Lady Butler-Sloss, said then that we might make more progress if people could avoid repetition. I realise that I am at risk of being accused of repetition myself, but could I reinforce the noble and learned Baroness’s message about avoiding repetition, without repeating it?

Amendment 26

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