Sarah Green

I rise to speak in favour of this Bill. First, though, I thank the hon. Member for Spen Valley (Kim Leadbeater) for the way in which she has approached the Bill, and for having engaged with Members across the House on both sides of the argument on their various amendments. I voted in favour of the Bill on Second Reading on principle, but also because of something a constituent said to me about the status quo. She said, “It is cruel”, and I cannot disagree with her. It was definitely cruel for my constituent Ann, who was interviewed by the police for supporting her husband in going to Dignitas. For weeks afterwards, in her grief, she faced the uncertainty of a police investigation. For me, the current system is unsatisfactory, and it was a real privilege to join others to scrutinise this Bill in Committee. It is my belief that it is stronger for having gone through that process. There is one change in particular I would like to speak to, which is the inclusion of social workers on the panel. People in that profession deal with complex, challenging, and sometimes dark family dynamics on a daily basis, and I believe that including them on the panel is the right thing to do. For those reasons, I will be supporting this Bill today, and I hope others will too.