Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill

Debate between Melanie Ward and Richard Tice

Report stage
Friday 13th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Richard Tice]

No, that would be unfair as so many wish to speak.

In considering the Bill, I think, yes, let us improve palliative care, but let us remember that choice, when faced with certain unimaginable pain, is the right thing to provide. That is why I will be supporting the Bill.

[Melanie Ward (Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy) (Lab)]

I am almost in my 13th hour of trying to speak on this topic, so I hope Members will understand that I am not going to take any interventions. I rise to speak in support of new clause 4, tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Peterborough (Andrew Pakes); amendment (b) to new clause 14, tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Rochdale (Paul Waugh); and amendment 13, tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow West (Patricia Ferguson).

Let me start by saying that ending suffering is a shared goal of all Members across this House. No one has a monopoly on wanting to end suffering; the question is how best we do it. As a former aid worker and someone who has risked my own life in order to alleviate the suffering of total strangers in war zones, I promise the House that I am motivated to end suffering at least as much as the next Member. It is worth the House knowing, too, that my darling dad died of terminal cancer in a hospice that was run and funded by a charity, because the NHS does not have that provision.

New clause 4 matters, because we do not live in an equal society, although many of us—particularly on the Labour Benches—seek to bring one about. This is a deeply flawed Bill, and the truth is that in seeking to give choice to some, it risks causing new harm to a much larger, vulnerable group of our citizens. The safeguards, which were watered down in Committee, will not prevent this. Indeed, this week, we have seen a letter from over 1,000 doctors saying that the Bill will “widen inequalities” and that it is “simply not safe”. Earlier, we heard a powerful speech from my hon. Friend the Member for Rochdale about the impact of advertising on the most vulnerable. New clause 4 would increase the collection of data about the impact on the most vulnerable and bring in proper oversight from the chief medical officer, including in relation to those with protected characteristics.

Last time we debated the Bill, we heard from my hon. Friend the Member for Bexleyheath and Crayford (Daniel Francis). We are in the shared situation of having close and dearly loved family members who have complex disabilities. My hon. Friend and our families know how it is to have to struggle—to fight every week for the access to basic state services that our loved one is entitled to but cannot access. Those services and precious state resources would increase their equality and ability to live well, but were stretched beyond breaking point by successive Tory Governments. It is that experience that brought me into politics and into the Labour party, and to this day—away from my day job as a Member of this House—I still have to fight on behalf of my loved one, who has significant physical impairments as well as learning difficulties, for them to access the healthcare and support that they desperately need.

Vulnerable people do not always make decisions in their own best interests, and I also know from my family experience that they can be highly susceptible to pressure from others who do not have their best interests at heart. That is why the transparency created by new clause 4 matters. I remind the House, too, that the Royal College of Psychiatrists has described the so-called safeguards in the Bill as “inadequate”, and that in Washington state, almost two thirds of those who had an assisted death in the last year for which data is available cited fear of being a burden on their family, friends or caregivers as a reason for doing so. I do not want that to happen in our country. Over 350 disability rights organisations oppose the Bill as it stands, and one of my constituents has told me that the Bill contributes to a sense among disabled people that “We are disposable.”

Amendment 13 and new clause 4 both make important changes to the role of the voluntary assisted dying commissioner. I ask my hon. Friends on the Labour Benches whether they have questioned the wisdom of the Prime Minister himself having to personally appoint the death tsar—as the media have christened that role—shortly before the next general election.

Finally, earlier this week, I heard an hon. Member say that he believes the Bill is flawed, but plans to vote for it anyway so that it becomes law and we would have to sort out the problems later—we have heard more of that today. The hon. Member did not specify how he thought this would happen, or when. He is right that the Bill is flawed, but he is wrong that we can ignore those problems. To do so would be to fail in our job as legislators. Being in favour of these amendments and against the Bill does not mean accepting the status quo, as some have tried to suggest. It means that we choose, instead, to protect the NHS and to work, to fight and to battle for a palliative care system that is worthy of those we represent, rather than diverting time and energy into helping people to kill themselves.

War in Ukraine: Third Anniversary

Debate between Melanie Ward and Richard Tice

Thursday 27th February 2025 Commons Chamber

[Richard Tice (Boston and Skegness) (Reform)]

We in Reform stand united with the whole House in support of Ukraine and all brave Ukrainians against the monstrous tyranny of that most evil villain, Putin.

[Melanie Ward]

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

[Richard Tice]

I have not even warmed up! I will make a little more progress.

Just over 13 months ago, I made a donation to acquire a 4x4 pick-up truck and to fill it with first aid supplies, and I drove it with other volunteers to Ukraine to give it to those brave soldiers on the frontline. I remember meeting the extraordinary technicians who were making the drones, including brilliant, bright children who were helping to develop new drone technology. Tragically, I stood in a cemetery and watched mums weep over the graves of their sons. That cemetery has almost doubled in size in just 12 months.

The maxim of peace through strength has stood the test of time—in history, today and in future. That is why in our contract at the election we had 2.5% of GDP on defence spending within three years, and 3% within six years. That is why we supported the Prime Minister earlier this week when he made those same commitments. I hope that that 3% will be a firm commitment within five or six years.

Peace through strength is vital. As others have said, we all want peace, not least the brave Ukrainians. It must be right to try for a peace deal, however difficult. Most wars and conflicts end up in some form of negotiation —however difficult, tough or tense.

[Melanie Ward]

Given how the hon. Gentleman started his speech, does he agree with the leader of his party, the hon. Member for Clacton (Nigel Farage), who is probably not in Clacton right now, who said in 2014 that Vladimir Putin was the global leader he most admired?

[Richard Tice]

Putin is a vile dictator. We all know that. My leader has also confirmed that Putin is the aggressor in this war. I was just moving on, in the time allotted, to the issue of how we get to a durable peace.