L

Lord Empey (UUP)

Speaking in the House of Lords on 23 January 2026

Debate

Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill

Contribution

My Lords, I wonder whether the proposer of these amendments, the noble Lord, Lord Birt, can tell us whether he has any indication from the relevant royal colleges that their members would be available for this service. The idea is that you will have senior clinicians on a 24-hour basis, 365 days per year. I wish our facilities had sufficient capacity, but it is nonsense; there is not the remotest possibility of the National Health Service and the relevant clinicians being available. If I am wrong, and the noble Lord, Lord Birt, has an indication from them that their members will be available, the sooner we get that information here the better—but I just cannot see it. We cannot even deal with what we have at the moment, never mind adding to the burden. On another issue, I must say to the noble and learned Lord, Lord Falconer, that it is 12.10 pm. By the time we finish this group, we will be at the lunch break. I have to say to him, as I said last week, that if we go on at the rate we are going, he is partly responsible. He needs to bring forward meaningful amendments, so that we can see the colour of his money now and not in weeks to come.

More from Lord Empey (UUP)

Other recent Hansard contributions by the same speaker.

About Hansard

Hansard is the official verbatim record of proceedings in the UK Parliament. Every word spoken in the Commons and Lords is recorded and published — this page is a single contribution from that record.

Partner sites