Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill

Kieran Mullan Excerpts

Report stage
Friday 13th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Judith Cummins)]

I call the shadow Minister.

[Dr Kieran Mullan (Bexhill and Battle) (Con)]

May I start by offering the condolences of His Majesty’s Opposition to all those affected by the Air India plane crash, including the families of the very many British citizens who, very sadly, lost their lives. Our thoughts are with all of them.

As is well understood now, the Opposition remain neutral on the principle of whether assisted dying should be introduced. That will depend on the Bill’s progress through its remaining stages in this and the other place. However, I wish to raise two important matters. First, on the matter of time, all of us understand the considerable challenges that Mr Speaker faces in having to balance the desire of colleagues to speak on this matter with the limited time available for private Members’ Bills—I know that he is doing his best to strike that balance. A number of Members have pointed out that the time being given to this Bill is significant and more than that normally allocated to even quite substantial Government Bills. None the less, it is right to acknowledge that this is far from an ordinary Bill.

It is hard to think of a more deeply consequential and highly contentious piece of legislation for our society. The reality is that, both today and in previous sittings, a number of Members have been unable to speak. There has been an informal time limit on speeches, and interventions have necessarily been limited as a result. Debate in this House is important not just because it decides how we vote, but because it is used by the courts to help interpret legislation. A more limited debate limits the scope for that.

Ordinarily, a Minister would have significant time at the end of Report to deal with amendments, provide clarification and explain intention, in a way that the promoter of the Bill will not. Again, a majority of Members may be satisfied with that, but very many are not. Although what we decide on the business of the House is ultimately determined by majority vote, how we reach a decision and how we allow alternative views to be explored matters. We should all consider whether we want a debate of such importance to be curtailed in the manner that it has been.

I ask the Government to consider assisting Mr Speaker by making more time available for us to ensure that, on Third Reading, we have the fullest debate possible, with every Member having a reasonable opportunity to speak and take interventions in the way that they would like.

Secondly, Members will be aware that the Bill, although extensive, is not the full picture. As others have highlighted, significant elements of how assisted dying will operate are due to be determined by future delegated legislation. The Government’s delegated powers memo notes that the Bill contains 38 delegated powers, including Henry VIII powers, and more powers are contained in the promoter’s amendments that are scheduled for decision today. They include matters such as the content, form and thoroughness of doctors’ reports, regulations for replacing a co-ordinating doctor who is unable or unwilling to continue, and decisions on who will be notified of the panel’s decision, which has been raised as an important potential safeguard. Those are not trivial matters. These pieces of legislation cannot be amended and MPs can vote only yes or no. In some cases, they are unlikely to be debated, and they almost certainly will not be on the Floor of the House. It is important for Members to fully understand that. MPs often have to weigh up the consequences of rejecting such legislation when they disagree with it, because it could leave a void.

Members are well within their rights to be content to proceed regardless. Certainly, a majority of the Committee have presented a Bill to the House with the composition as described. That is, of course, a legitimate choice for Members to make. We have heard in the debate today about amendments to curtail these powers, and Members will need to decide their views on that. I urge the Government, in the interests of helping Members to have the clearest possible idea of how a scheme they are being asked to vote on will operate, to provide as much detail as possible on what these future regulations might consist of. Although we will not be able to have all the answers, I think most Members would agree that it is better that we vote with more detail, rather than less, even if they are satisfied to support assisted dying in principle. This is something that only the Government can do. I ask that the Minister reflects on that challenge in his closing remarks, alongside giving the Government’s response to those asking for more Government time to allow wider debate with more Members able to speak.

I emphasise again that the Opposition remain neutral on whether we should introduce assisted dying, but it is incumbent on us to at least draw attention to matters of procedure that can be addressed only by the Government. I look forward to the Minister addressing the concerns of Members along the lines reflected in my remarks today.

[The Minister for Care (Stephen Kinnock)]

I associate the Government with the words of the Opposition spokesman regarding the tragic incident in India.

As Members will know, the Government remain neutral on the passage of the Bill and on the principle of assisted dying. We have always been clear that this is a decision for Parliament. However, the Government are responsible for ensuring that the Bill, if passed, is effective, legally robust and workable.

Let me start with a brief observation about the process and, in particular, the time made available to Parliament to scrutinise the Bill. The Bill has received over 90 hours of parliamentary time, which is more than most Bills receive. More than 500 amendments were tabled and considered in Committee. I thank Members on all sides of the debate for their contributions during the extensive consideration and scrutiny that the Bill has received.

Given the time, I will confine my remarks on the amendments to those about which the Government have significant legal or operational concerns, and those tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Spen Valley (Kim Leadbeater) to address significant workability concerns. Before I get into the detail, I remind the House that a full list of amendments tabled by my hon. Friend that the Government deem essential or highly likely to contribute to the workability of the Bill can be found in the letter sent to all Members by me and the Minister of State at the Ministry of Justice, my hon. and learned Friend the Member for Finchley and Golders Green (Sarah Sackman), on 15 May.

Let me start with amendments tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Spen Valley. New clause 13 and amendments 69, 53 and 72 would allow the Government to create or change legislation to set out the end-to-end process in relation to approved substances to be used for assisted dying. They would allow for monitoring and for a regulatory regime to be designed that will offer robust oversight of approved substances and the devices used to administer them, specifically in the context of assisted dying.

Amendment 54 and new clause 15 would replace clause 35, which is currently unworkable in the wider legal context. They would align the scrutiny and certification of assisted deaths with the existing process for deaths that are not deemed unnatural. That means that assisted deaths would be scrutinised by a medical examiner rather by a coroner unless reported to the coroner by anyone who has concerns about the death.

Amendments 92 to 94 would ensure that the Secretary of State and Welsh Ministers have powers to make necessary regulations to approve assisted dying services in Wales. Amendment 95 would bring the Welsh commencement powers in line with the devolution settlement and remove the requirement in clause 54 for Welsh Ministers to lay commencement regulations before the Senedd for approval, to align with usual procedure.

I now turn to amendments tabled by other Members that the Government assess as creating potentially significant workability challenges. Amendment 97 would require the MHRA to license the approved substances to be used in assisted dying. That may present workability challenges, as licensing is not possible if the approved substances do not meet the definition of “medicinal product” under the current relevant legislation. Furthermore, licensing is reliant on the manufacturer applying to the MHRA for a marketing authorisation for that indication and providing the necessary evidence of safety and efficacy in support. Should the Bill pass, the Government would work to put in place an appropriate regulatory regime for the approval of substances. It may be helpful to note that my hon. Friend the Member for Spen Valley has tabled new clause 13, which recognises the need for a robust regulatory framework and would provide the powers needed to introduce such a framework.

Amendments 105 to 107, amendment (a) to new clause 13 and amendment (a) to new clause 14 would restrict the scope of Henry VIII powers available to the UK and Welsh Governments to make provision about assisted dying services. They would further restrict the use of powers in relation to the regulatory framework for approved substances and the devices used to administer them, and to the prohibition on advertising. I point Members towards the delegated powers memorandum published by the Government, which sets out our consideration of the Henry VIII powers in the Bill. As with legislation more broadly, the Government recognise the need, in appropriate cases, for amendment by Henry VIII powers. Members will be aware that the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee will issue its own consideration of the Bill, which will of course be made available to all parliamentarians.

Amendment 3 seeks to shorten the commencement period to three years. Should the Bill pass, an entirely new service with robust safeguards and protections will need to be carefully developed and tested, with input from a range of delivery partners. The Government’s view is that the Bill, as amended in Committee, with a four-year backstop for commencement would be more likely to provide for safe and effective implementation.