Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Vince Cable and Robert Buckland

Tuesday 8th October 2019 Commons Chamber

[Sir Vince Cable (Twickenham) (LD)]

13. What recent public consultation he has conducted on the law in relation to assisted dying.

[The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice (Robert Buckland)]

The Government have not conducted a public consultation on the law in relation to assisted suicide. We remain of the view that any change to the law in this sensitive area is a matter of conscience and a matter for Parliament, rather than one of Government policy.

[Sir Vince Cable]

The Secretary of State will be aware that, under the current law, people can be sentenced to up to 14 years in prison for assisting the suicide of a terminally ill loved one in great pain, and that the Crown Prosecution Service is pursuing prosecutions, with traumatic effects in some cases, so why have the Government decided to abandon even the call for evidence that his predecessor initiated only a few weeks ago?

[Robert Buckland]

I am grateful to the right hon. Gentleman for his question. There was no initiation of a call for evidence. However, I hear his point about prosecutions. The Crown Prosecution Service guidelines, which were actually pioneered by the right hon. and learned Member for Holborn and St Pancras (Keir Starmer), in my view strike a very sensitive and sensible balance between the need to protect the vulnerable and the need to understand the sensitive and emotive circumstances of many of these tragic cases.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Vince Cable and Robert Buckland

Thursday 24th October 2013 Commons Chamber

[Vince Cable]

I think I know the sorting office that the hon. Lady is talking about, because it is the one that serves my constituency. It was rebuilt and re-equipped three years ago, I believe, so it is wildly improbable that the Royal Mail will now want to sell it.

[Mr Robert Buckland (South Swindon) (Con)]

5. What steps he is taking to improve adults’ basic skills.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Vince Cable and Robert Buckland

Thursday 6th September 2012 Commons Chamber

[Vince Cable]

There is no question of introducing no-fault dismissal by the front or the back door. The proposal in the Bill relates to settlement agreements. We are proceeding in consultation with both employers and the trade unions—there is a wide area of consensus on the matter.

[Mr Robert Buckland (South Swindon) (Con)]

I am delighted that my right hon. Friend is going to Honda Swindon today to help to mark 20 years of investment of more than £2 billion. Will he take the opportunity to discuss how trade barriers between the EU and Japan can be further removed and improved so that Honda’s position can be strengthened?

[Vince Cable]

I pay tribute to the hon. Gentleman’s work, and to the workers and managers in Swindon who have made a success of the plant. As many of us remember, many of them went on to part-time working and long vacations to keep the plant alive, and it is now succeeding. I have discussed trade barriers with the Keidanren in Japan and with others. There are a lot of non-tariff barriers in the automotive industry. We must deal with them if we are to have a genuine free trade agreement with Japan.