Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill

Debate between Baroness Berger and Lord Markham

Committee stage
Friday 6th February 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Markham (Con)]

As the noble Baroness herself said, we debated both deprivation of liberty and the Mental Capacity Act and its use extensively—I think it was on 14 November—and I believe the sponsor, the noble and learned Lord, Lord Falconer, agreed to look at extra safeguards around deprivation of liberty, being aware that there are many items we are all hoping to get through.

On the length of this debate—obviously, it will be up to noble Lords to decide how much time they want to take—we have covered these areas to a large degree, so what does the noble Baroness hope for in terms of the extensiveness of the debate this time? Does she hope that we can refer back to the previous debate and move quickly to get the response from the sponsor?

[Baroness Berger (Lab)]

I endeavoured to keep my remarks brief, and I believe I did so, taking under five minutes. The point of the amendments is very specific, around eligibility, which we had not discussed. We talked more broadly about the concerns around the Mental Capacity Act, but not specifically in the context of capacity. Obviously, we listened closely to the sponsor of the Bill’s response to the earlier debate, and the point raised in these amendments was not in any way addressed. These are additional points, beyond the principle and the wider concerns about people who are under deprivation of liberty and those who will be considered under the Mental Capacity Act. Clearly, we have listened to the experts, who have raised many concerns about the Mental Capacity Act, but the purpose of these amendments is to address eligibility.

I hope that the sponsor of the Bill will give us some more colour and detail about amendments he might come forward with on Report. But we have been in Committee since the middle of November, and in the absence of anything so far coming forward from the sponsor on the Mental Capacity Act and deprivation of liberty safeguards—I think this speaks to the concerns of many in this House—we are therefore compelled to bring forward these amendments to raise these issues. If something did come forward, that might enable us to withdraw future groups of amendments altogether, and maybe that will be the case. I look forward to the sponsor’s response.