Earl Howe (Con)

My Lords, as we have heard, my noble friend Lord Harper’s Amendments 70 and 78 seek to expand the definition of terminal illness beyond illness or disease to include terminal injuries. If this amendment were accepted, it would enable those who have suffered terminal injuries through military service or industrial accidents, for example, to access assistance under the Bill. It seems to me that these amendments are helpful in at least two ways. First, they raise the question of how we should define a terminal illness or disease. If a person has been injured and has a prognosis of six months, should that person be described as terminally ill for the purposes of the Bill? I suggest that this is not just a question for the noble and learned Lord; it is also one of relevance to Ministers. As we have said on previous occasions, it will be state-run services that deliver assistance, and Ministers will need to be clear on what constitutes terminal illness. Put another way, if, as the noble Lord, Lord Hendy, rightly said, an injury is legally distinct from an illness, why should people with six months to live for reasons other than an illness or disease be excluded from the scope of the Bill? My noble friend Lord Blencathra argued that adding injury to illness would be a slippery slope. I need to reflect on that. I was not wholly convinced by what he said, because there is a moral case around an injured terminally ill person that we need to resolve. By the same token, if the question remains open, are we happy that it will be left to the courts to expand the definition of illness, if that is what the court decides? One could envisage that happening. The second way in which the amendments are helpful is the issue raised by my noble friend Lord Sandhurst’s Amendment 829, which seeks to address a specific problem caused by the interaction between this Bill and the Fatal Accidents Act 1976. Having listened to both my noble friends, I share their concern. As Amendment 829 rightly implies, it may not be possible to resolve this through a simple amendment to this Bill. It would be helpful if the Minister could explain whether the Government accept my noble friend’s argument that if the rights afforded to bereaved relatives under the 1976 Act are to be preserved within the terms of this Bill—as surely is equitable—it will depend on the Government to identify ways in which that can be achieved in a legally and politically acceptable way. Perhaps Ministers and officials could look at this between Committee and Report, and advise the noble and learned Lord, the Bill’s sponsor, so that we can resolve the problem before the Bill gets any further.