Sir Edward Leigh

The hon. Member for Filton and Bradley Stoke (Claire Hazelgrove) has spoken most movingly, and we know that many of us are very conflicted on this issue. We have to respect each other and show compassion—we know what this debate is all about. No one side has a monopoly on compassion. I will say in a moment why I believe in being assisted to die in a dignified way, but will the House forgive me if I start with an essential legal point? We know that what this is all about is ensuring that the Bill we are debating today leaves the House unamended so that the Parliament Act can be imposed. The Isle of Man had an assisted dying Bill, which, like this Bill, left a lot to delegated powers. The Ministry of Justice concluded that this meant that that Bill was not compatible with the European convention on human rights. When the result of the private Member’s Bill ballot was published, three former Attorneys General of both parties—Baroness Scotland, Dominic Grieve and Baroness Prentis—wrote to the promoter to urge her not to present the same Bill, as it would run into the same legal and constitutional difficulties. It is unfortunate that that offer has not been taken up, and we have to ask why. Let me give my own personal views as briefly as possible. I will surprise the House by saying that I am in favour of assisted dying. I am in favour of the idea that when I, or when any of us, approach our last moments, we go into a hospice and are assisted to die. That is what doctors and nurses do all the time. I have been very impressed by what our Prime Minister has said on this issue—he has not been mentioned yet. It is about ensuring that everybody receives excellent palliative care, as we see in our hospices like St Barnabas hospice in Lincoln. So we are agreed on that.