Baroness Grey-Thompson (CB)

My Lords, I have added my name to Amendments 82 and 83A, in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Polak. I note that Amendment 83, which was tabled by my noble friend Lady Murphy and the noble Baroness, Lady Noakes, has been withdrawn. It would have extended the period of eligibility from six to 12 months for neurological conditions. I added my name to these two amendments because it is important to have real clarity on what we mean by a six-month diagnosis, as well as to have specialist certification by an independent consultant. I added my name because Professor Paddy Stone, who is the former head of Marie Curie palliative care research department at UCL, said there is no reliable way to identify patients with a six to 12-month diagnosis and no method that would provide an adequate safeguard. We have to remember that no royal college supports this Bill or thinks that the safeguards in it are good enough. Amendments 97 and 98 would tidy up the language in the Bill. This is quite a minor point, but “person with a disability” does not exist in law. It is used interchangeably in the Bill and society, but “with a disability” suggests that my impairment is something I can pick up or put down at will, which I cannot. To show some understanding of what disabled people experience, the Bill should use the language of both the DDA and the Equality Act, and should recognise that the social model of disability exists. I do not know whether the drafting was a refutation of the social model, or perhaps a drafting mistake, but it shows a lack of connection to disabled people and deaf and disabled people’s organisations. We are told that language changes all the time—it really does not. Different language may be used around the world, but this is British law, and we should use the words that are in Acts that already exist. Last week, the noble Lord, Lord Harper, mentioned things we think we need to fix but never get round to, and I thought of an example at the time. The DDA—I sat on the National Disability Council with the noble Lord, Lord Shinkwin—said 31 years ago that taxis in this country should be wheelchair accessible. Thirty-one years later, we have still not sorted it. I have tabled an amendment to the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, for next week, to fix that. Given that we have had to wait 31 years for taxis to be accessible for disabled people, can noble Lords not understand why disabled people fear this Bill? Amendment 106 in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Hunt of Kings Heath, and my noble friend Lady O’Loan looks for clarity on that six-month diagnosis. We are constantly told there is nothing to worry about, but those are easy soundbites. The Bill is caught between two competing policies: trying to ensure safety versus personal choice. The state has a duty to ensure that those choices are sufficiently informed and based on accurate medical assessment. Building in an independent prognosis would recognise that, in a life-ending law, the margin for error must be minimal and oversight must be robust. It would send a clear signal that assisted dying is exceptional and that those who seek it must face rigorous, medically sound scrutiny that reinforces public trust and protection for vulnerable individuals.