Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill

Lord Polak Excerpts

Friday 23rd January 2026 Lords Chamber

The noble Lord, Lord Mackinlay, and the noble Lord, Lord Harper, through a series of amendments, seek to ameliorate the situation created by these amendments. I support them in those attempts, but the amendments in the names of the noble Lord, Lord Birt, and the noble Lord, Lord Pannick, are simply unworkable at the present time.

[Lord Polak (Con)]

My Lords, I have great respect for the noble Lord, Lord Birt, and his practical ideas are very sensible, but I think that there is a much more fundamental problem that probably frustrates him. The Government are hiding from us what in fact they want to do on this Bill. I do not blame the noble and learned Lord, Lord Falconer, for this. We are being encouraged to pass a Bill that, as we have heard, will put enormous obligations on the health service’s budget and people, but we are being given no direction by the Government. Will they pay? Do they have the money? Do they have the trained staff to deal with it? While HMG hide behind this flawed Private Member’s Bill, noble Lords are being urged to legislate blind. It is not remotely acceptable or responsible for noble Lords to make life and death decisions when there is no clarity about the future intentions of the Government. I say to the noble Lord, Lord Birt, that this is a great idea, but who pays for it?

[Lord Lemos (Lab)]

I apologise but I must remind noble Lords of the guidance of the House, which is that noble Lords should not summarise or repeat others at length. I know I try to find a different way to say this every week, and broadly speaking I fail. I also realise that noble Lords have spent a lot of time preparing their remarks, but it is my duty to remind them of the guidance of the House.