Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill

Debate between Simon Hoare and Kim Leadbeater

Report stage
Friday 20th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Kim Leadbeater (Spen Valley) (Lab)]

I beg to move, That the Bill be now read the Third time.

It is an honour and a privilege to open the debate on Third Reading of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill. It has been a long journey to get here, and I do not underestimate the significance of this day. It is not often that we are asked to wrestle with issues of morality, ethics and humanity, but with great privilege in this job comes great responsibility, and never more so than at a time like this.

Benjamin Franklin told us that

“in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”

In this House we debate the latter incessantly, but here and in the country as a whole discussing death is something that we tend to shy away from, yet it will come to us all and to all those we love. We all have our own experiences of death, loss and grief. There are good deaths and bad deaths. I, like many, have experienced both.

I appreciate that, for some colleagues, the journey to this point has been a difficult one. I want to pay tribute to the way in which the overwhelming majority of Members have approached the subject. Second Reading back in November was quite rightly seen as an example of Parliament at its best. Contributions from across the Chamber were incredibly powerful, the atmosphere was respectful, and people listened with care. I hope that we will see the same today.

I want to thank you, Mr Speaker, and your team along with the fantastic Clerks and procedural experts who have ensured that parliamentary protocols have been followed and have guided us through the intricacies of what can be a complex parliamentary process—one that is steeped in tradition, but not always easy to follow. Of course, process is important, but it is also important to remember that we are not voting on the merits of parliamentary procedure; we are voting on an issue that matters deeply to our constituents. Indeed, the issue before us is very personal for many people—so many of our constituents, but many of us as well. It is an issue that transcends party politics. I thank colleagues from across the House who have shared their very personal stories with me.

I am grateful to all colleagues who have studied the detail of the Bill. It is essential that we come to a decision based on the content of what it actually says. I have been pleased to work with Members on all sides of the debate to ensure that the legislation is something that Parliament can be proud of—a cogent, workable Bill that has one simple thread running through it: the need to correct the profound injustices of the status quo and to offer a compassionate and safe choice to terminally ill people who want to make it.

I will not go into the amendments in detail, as I know that is not the purpose of this debate, but whether by adding further safeguards and protections for patients through additional training around coercive control, the addition of specialist expertise through the inclusion of multidisciplinary panels, widening the provision for professionals to opt out of the assisted dying process, providing additional employment protections, or prohibiting the advertising of assisted dying, cross-party working has strengthened the Bill.

[Simon Hoare (North Dorset) (Con)]

I am grateful to the hon. Lady for giving way. What level of concern does it give her that, between Second Reading and today, a growing canon of professionals and their independent professional bodies have urged great caution about this Bill, not on the principle, but because they are opposed to the details of this Bill and believe it should be defeated?

[Kim Leadbeater]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention. I think what he is saying is that people have got different views, and they do have different views; we have different views in this House, and different people in different professions have different views. Every royal college has a neutral position on assisted dying because of that.

I have been pleased to work with Members on all sides of the debate to ensure that this legislation is something that Parliament can be proud of, and the many safeguards in this Bill ensure that only terminally ill patients who are eligible under the strict criteria and want to access assisted dying can do so.

Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill

Debate between Simon Hoare and Kim Leadbeater

Report stage
Friday 13th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Kim Leadbeater]

No, I am going to make some progress, if that is okay.

The substances that would be used would not be new substances. As we know, assisted dying is available in many other jurisdictions, and there are substances that have been used safely and, in some cases, for many years. Their safety and efficacy has been proven around the world, but they do need to be treated differently, which is the purpose of new clause 13.

[Simon Hoare (North Dorset) (Con)]

Will the hon. Lady give way?

Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill

Debate between Simon Hoare and Kim Leadbeater

Friday 16th May 2025 Commons Chamber

[Kim Leadbeater]

I am going to finish, if I may, because other people want to speak.

Amendment 14, which was tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Bradford West (Naz Shah)—another outstanding member of the Committee—states:

“A person who would not otherwise meet the requirements of subsection (1) shall not be considered to meet those requirements solely as a result of voluntarily stopping eating or drinking.”

I suspect the amendment has been put forward as a result of the lengthy discussions in Committee regarding whether people with anorexia would be eligible for an assisted death under the Bill. In my previous career before becoming an MP, I worked with a number of people with eating disorders. I am very aware of the hugely sensitive and complex issues surrounding disordered eating, particularly anorexia. I also know that this is a personal issue for a number of colleagues across the House, as a result of their own experiences. Eating disorders cause huge distress for individuals, their families and loved ones, but with care and the right treatment, it is possible for people to recover and to go back to leading a full and fulfilling life.

[Simon Hoare (North Dorset) (Con)]

The hon. Lady is absolutely right on the matter of eating disorders, but my understanding of the amendment is that it relates to those who effectively starve themselves into a position of becoming terminally ill without having an eating disorder—that is the thrust of the amendment. Does she see that, and how does she intend to respond to it?

Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill

Debate between Simon Hoare and Kim Leadbeater

2nd reading
Friday 29th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Kim Leadbeater]

My hon. Friend makes a very important point. I thank him for it, and for his years of service as a nurse. I have spoken to many medical professionals about this issue, and they say that this is part of their job. They are very skilled and they work closely with patients, particularly dying patients, to assess their needs and to have those difficult and delicate conversations. As the KCs said, at the moment we check for coercion in cases where people have taken their own lives—when someone is dead. The Bill would make coercion a criminal offence with a sentence of up to 14 years.

Surely, by putting a legal framework around this difficult situation, we will provide an extra level of safeguarding. One psychotherapist, who is terminally ill herself, said to me recently that coercion happens when things are hidden away. The Bill would bring things out into the open. Surely, that must be safer for everyone. Let us look at what the absence of a robust legal framework looks like.

[Simon Hoare (North Dorset) (Con)]

I thank the hon. Lady for giving the House the time to debate the Bill this morning. She references coercion, and I understand her point about the two medics, but medics will not be able to see or hear everything at all times. People will not be put beyond challenge, because subsequent to the death, if a relative claims coercion of another relative, investigation will remain. I am entirely unclear how, without peradventure, two clinicians can claim that there had been no coercion at any point.

[Kim Leadbeater]

The hon. Gentleman has made the point for me: within a robust system, we will check for coercion, but we do not have any of that now. At the moment, the person will be definitely be dead. We have to look at the status quo. Putting in layers of safeguarding and checking for coercion must be better than the system that we have now.