Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill

Debate between Rupa Huq and Jess Asato

Report stage
Friday 13th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Dr Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton) (Lab)]

I rise to support amendments 34 to 36 and new clause 6, tabled by my right hon. Friend the Member for Walsall and Bloxwich (Valerie Vaz), who sadly cannot be here today.

Health inequality shapes life expectancy and outcomes —covid deaths illuminated that—but it is absent from the Bill. A younger me would have been 100% behind this Bill. I am very pro body autonomy when it comes to abortion, but 10 years of being an MP has exposed me to coercion, duress, the billionaire price of London property, and elder abuse. It is no coincidence that, like me, the majority of London MPs and of black and minority ethnic MPs oppose the Bill.

Let us look at amendment 34. The experience of my aged parents—now no longer with us—opened my eyes to a world of pills, incontinence pads, hoists, power of attorney, key safe boxes and carer worries. I saw how non-native English-speaking pensioners—I am not talking about Welsh speakers—have their agency denied, perhaps unconsciously, by health professionals in a stretched system. My mum’s GP had a clear contempt for her accented words. At every appointment she would say to her, “One question only”. As my mum grew frailer and began to lose the power of speech, she reverted to her mother tongue and was seen by hospital teams as an annoyance, a time waster, and bed blocker. Similarly, the disabled are often written off. People cannot see beyond the wheelchair or the non-verbal. Amendment 34 would place a duty on the chief medical officer to provide information at every step of the way

[Jess Asato]

On that point, will my hon. Friend give way?

[Dr Huq]

Will I get more time? [Laughter.]