Medicines and Medical Devices Bill

Lord Collins of Highbury Excerpts

Report stage & Report stage (Hansard): House of Lords & Report: 1st sitting & Report: 1st sitting: House of Lords
Tuesday 12th January 2021 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Jolly (LD) [V]]

My Lords, this has been a detailed, depressing debate and I feel completely powerless. I pay tribute to the noble Lord, Lord Hunt of Kings Heath, for his phenomenal tenacity on this and to the noble Lord, Lord Alton, for his tireless work. I am sure others do just as much and I do not know about it.

Amendment 13, led by the noble Lord, Lord Hunt, and signed by my noble friend Lady Northover and the Minister, would enable regulations under Clause 1(1) to make provision about the use of human tissues or cells in relation to human medicines. The amendment pushes the Government to respond to the horrifying practice of forced organ harvesting that evidence suggests is taking place in China. The account of organ banks by the noble Baroness, Lady Finlay of Llandaff, was chilling. Liberal Democrats, among others, have been vocal about the appalling human rights violations faced by the Uighurs. The amendment would be an important step in the right direction, and we urge the Government to do all they can to put an end to this practice.

It is most unusual for a Minister on a Bill to be included as a signatory to an amendment. It should send a real signal that our Government do not support this appalling treatment of minorities, and I commend him on this stance. I would be grateful if the Minister, in summing up, could tell us whether there is anything we could practically do on this matter.

[Lord Collins of Highbury (Lab)]

My Lords, I too thank all noble Lords who put their names to this amendment. It truly reflects the cross-party concern on this issue. I pay particular thanks to my noble friend Lord Hunt and the noble Lord, Lord Alton, who have been absolutely persistent in raising this at every level. We have debated this not only on this Bill but in other debates in this House.

I thank the noble Lord the Minister and particularly the noble Baroness, Lady Penn, for the regular meetings she has had with noble Lords to listen to our concerns. The fact that they have both listened and acted is a reflection of the good work this House can do in not acting in a partisan way. We have put the issue first and delivered on it. I am also grateful to the noble Baroness for the way she has gone to the limit of this Bill’s scope. I recognise that the Bill’s scope has placed limitations on us, but it does not stop us speaking about and delivering on the political issue that my noble friend and the noble Lord, Lord Alton, have raised. I am particularly pleased to thank everyone concerned.

I will pick up a couple of points. One of the big political issues that started my noble friend’s concern was the exhibitions we saw. The idea that consent could be given by dead or dying prisoners in China is absolutely ridiculous. We should never accept it and should continue to ensure that we strengthen regulation in that regard. It will be ongoing work.

I also pick up a point that both my noble friend Lord Hunt and the noble Lord, Lord Alton, raised in Committee; in fact, we raised it at Second Reading. We named two companies involved in supplying organ-preserving devices to mainland China. This could explain how organs are being transported around China, supporting this obnoxious practice of harvesting organs.

I was pleased to read the statement made by Dominic Raab in his announcement that the Government will conduct an urgent review of export controls, specifically as they apply to the situation in the Xinjiang Province, to, as he said,

“make sure that we are doing everything that we can to prevent the export of any goods that could directly or indirectly contribute to human rights violations in that region.”

We have heard in our debates in this House that that is potentially going on, and I hope that the Minister will be able to respond that she will work with both the FCDO and the International Trade Department to ensure that the concerns raised today will be reflected the review that Dominic Raab has promised. I hope she will take that up and, as raised by both the noble Baroness, Lady Northover and my noble friend Lord Hunt, the China tribunal’s conclusions about the nature of the practice that has been going on and the fact that the Uighurs and Falun Gong practitioners are its main victims.

As we have said in many debates, the Communist Party of China and the Government of the People’s Republic have denied all claims about this, despite the evidence of the tribunal, and have relied on the WHO clearing them of wrongdoing. Of course, we know that that is because the WHO does not have an independent expert compliance assessment mechanism: it relies on the Government of China and the Chinese Communist Party simply saying that it does not happen. I know that the noble Lord, Lord Ahmad, has been consistent and persistent in raising this issue and it has been raised with the WHO, but I hope the Minister will be able to respond today that we will continue to raise it through the organ of the WHO.

In conclusion, I repeat what has been said by all noble Lords. The importance of this amendment is not simply the specific points of law that it will address. The most important thing the amendment and this debate tonight does is send a very clear message that we will not tolerate such appalling acts against humanity and will deliver for the people of China, not for the Communist Party of China.

[Baroness Penn (Con)]

My Lords, I begin by thanking all noble Lords for their valuable and ongoing engagement on the matters raised by Amendment 13. Throughout the Bill’s passage, we have heard numerous passionate and heartfelt speeches on the allegations of organ harvesting in China and how the UK seeks to guard against complicity in any such practices. Anyone listening to speeches made by noble Lords in Grand Committee or this debate cannot have failed to understand the considerable strength of feeling behind those concerns. My noble friend Lord Bethell and I have greatly welcomed the thoughtful and constructive discussions on these issues.

Earlier today, the Foreign Secretary made an announcement setting out an ambitious package of measures that will help to ensure that no British organisations, whether public or private, are contributing inadvertently to human rights violations in Xinjiang. This demonstrates that we will not stand by as violations there continue. We will never hesitate to stand up for human rights as a force for good in the world.

The Government’s position is clear: if true, the practice of systemic, state-sponsored organ harvesting would constitute a serious violation of human rights. The China Tribunal report has been carefully considered by the FCDO and adds to a growing body of evidence about the disturbing situation that Falun Gong practitioners, Uighurs and other minorities face in China.

Given the considerable interest in these and related concerns over human rights violations in China, my noble friend Lord Ahmad, Minister for South Asia and the Commonwealth, has met repeatedly a number of noble Lords with particular interest in these matters over recent months. I trust that these discussions have provided some assurance of the Government’s absolute commitment to strong UK action. The Minister, is, I know, committed to ongoing engagement in coming weeks.

During Grand Committee, the noble Lords, Lord Hunt and Lord Alton, made clear their view that the WHO should be further engaged to take more robust action and to provide greater transparency on organ transplant practices in China. I am pleased to tell noble Lords that continued efforts by FCDO Ministers to engage the WHO on these matters have led to a valuable meeting between senior officials at the UK Mission in Geneva and Jane Ellison, executive director for external relations at the WHO. These discussions have opened up dialogue with key international partners on organ harvesting allegations, which we are committed to continuing.

Crucially, noble Lords may know that my noble friend Lord Ahmad has committed to meeting Sir Geoffrey Nice QC in the coming months to discuss further the findings of his report. The FCDO is, I know, absolutely committed to considering carefully all and any evidence presented on allegations of organ harvesting in China. I want to take the opportunity on behalf of the Minister for South Asia and the Commonwealth to thank my noble friend Lord Ribeiro and the noble Baroness, Lady Northover, for their role in engaging international medical organisations on these matters.

I now turn to the specifics of the amendment tabled in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Hunt, to which I am pleased that my noble friend Lord Bethell has put his name. The amendment provides absolute clarity that the powers in Clause 2 of the Bill can be used to make regulatory changes about the use of human tissues or cells in legislation relating to human medicines.

While it is important to be absolutely clear that the use of imported tissue in any medicines on the UK market is extremely limited—there is only one licensed medicinal product in the UK that uses donor-derived tissues, and that tissue is sourced from within the EU—we are all in agreement that we would not want the UK medicines industry compromised by the use of human tissue or cells sourced through human rights violations. The amendment will ensure that we have the power to take action to amend or supplement provisions governing the use of human tissues in medicinal products in the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 or the Medicines for Human Use (Clinical Trials) Regulations 2004 to help assure the integrity of tissues and cells used in UK medicines if necessary.

The drafting, an iteration of the wording of a similar amendment tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Hunt, in Grand Committee, delivers important clarity on a number of points. In particular, the specific reference to both tissues and cells provides certainty on the scope of materials captured. The reference to definitions of those terms under the Human Tissues (Quality and Safety for Human Application) Regulations 2007 ensures consistency with wider UK legislation.

I am also assured that this drafting allows for provisions to encapsulate the full stream of activities in the regulation of medicines that could relate to the use of tissues and cells. Of course, as with any such provisions brought forward under Clause 1 of the Bill, this would be informed by public consultation, a critical step in ensuring the full consideration of an appropriate approach and mitigating against any unintended consequences—for instance, for the supply or development of medicines in the UK.

Finally, I recognise that noble Lords have raised a number of other important, related questions on how we safeguard domestic practices from being at risk of compromise by human rights violations overseas. In these discussions, we have sought to be completely clear with noble Lords on the limitations of what can be done under this Bill. However, let me reassure noble Lords that concerns have not gone unheard.

First and foremost, on the consent standards applied to tissues imported for the purposes of public display, I am pleased to announce that we will take forward work to strengthen the Human Tissue Authority’s code of practice on public display for imported tissues. Although such imports are rare, we are committed to ensuring that when tissues are imported from outside the UK for the purposes of display, the consent standards applied are clear, firm and enforceable.