Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
Debate between Baroness Butler-Sloss and Lord Falconer of ThorotonFriday 6th February 2026
(1 week, 6 days ago)
Lords ChamberRead Full debate Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill 2024-26 View all Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill 2024-26 Debates Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts Amendment Paper: HL Bill 112-IX(a) Amendments for Committee (Supplementary to the Ninth Marshalled List) - (6 Feb 2026)
Lord Falconer of Thoroton (Lab)
I am not sure that I followed the subtlety of that question. The Mental Capacity Act 2005 is a tried and tested framework, which seeks to ensure that someone—a doctor, for example—has to make a decision about whether a patient is capable of deciding to withdraw from treatment. The doctors will be experienced in doing that and the legal tests have worked over the years. The noble Baroness, Lady Finlay, is right when she says that they are frequently not applied in the correct manner, but in this Bill the key thing is that there are safeguards so that those particular problems will not apply. That is why I am espousing quite strongly keeping the same test for the assisted dying Bill as in the rest of medicine.
Baroness Butler-Sloss (CB)
I have a practical question. What, then, is the noble and learned Lord going to offer us?
Lord Falconer of Thoroton (Lab)
I am not offering anything in the way of a different framework in relation to this. I am more than happy to discuss with people what sort of code of practice there should be. I say that not because I have not been listening—I have been listening as hard as I possibly can; but listening does, from time to time, involve disagreement as well. I apologise for disagreeing, but I do disagree with the two big schemes that have been put by the noble Baronesses, Lady Finlay and Lady Hollins.
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
Debate between Baroness Butler-Sloss and Lord Falconer of ThorotonFriday 30th January 2026
(2 weeks, 6 days ago)
Lords ChamberRead Full debate Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill 2024-26 View all Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill 2024-26 Debates Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts Amendment Paper: HL Bill 112-VIII(a) Amendments for Committee (Supplementary to the Eighth Marshalled List) - (29 Jan 2026)
Lord Falconer of Thoroton (Lab)
I do not think that it justifies a new equality assessment. The thing about equality assessments is that lawyers can constantly write to clients and say, “You haven’t considered this and you haven’t considered that”. Having read in detail the equality assessment, I say that it deals properly and adequately with the issues.
Baroness Butler-Sloss (CB)
My Lords, I wonder whether it would be possible to get to the next group of amendments.