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Lord Falconer of Thoroton (Lab)

Speaking in the House of Lords on 6 February 2026

Debate

Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill

Contribution

First, in relation to the noble Baroness’s analysis of the Mental Capacity Act, Section 1 says that you shall be assumed to have capacity unless you do not have capacity and Section 2 says, broadly, that you do not have capacity if you are not capable of making a particular decision. The law and, I believe, practitioners, have found that a perfectly adequate framework within which to operate. Secondly, on the example the noble Baroness gives about frontal lobal problems, this is a problem not about presumption but that, in certain cases, capacity is difficult to identify. That has to be addressed under the Bill, because the two doctors and the panel have to be satisfied that there is capacity. As it happens, they also have to be satisfied that it is the firm and settled view of the person that that is what they want.

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