Lord Empey (UUP)

My Lords, following on from the proposal in Amendment 39, from the noble Baroness, Lady Grey-Thompson, one of the issues that perhaps is not fully appreciated or understood—it is only if you have actually witnessed it that you get the full implications—is delirium brought about by a combination of medications that are applied. One particular medication can clash with another and can produce a situation which appears almost like dementia, but the patient is not suffering from dementia but delirium. The noble Baroness, Lady Grey-Thompson, expressed that very well. The noble Baroness, Lady Berger, spoke to Amendment 31. Again, it seems an elementary thing but, whether a person is sufficiently capable at the relevant point in time and is not suffering from delirium and/or dementia is best judged by the clinician who knows and works with the patient, rather than somebody with a white coat who is dashing in and out of a ward room and trying to assess the person on the hoof. Like the noble Lord, Lord Deben, and others who spoke earlier, I do not like this Bill. However, as I said at Second Reading, like everybody else in this room I am a legislator. We have a role above and beyond our personal prejudices and beliefs. I must say to the noble and learned Lord, Lord Falconer of Thoroton, that, as the noble Lord, Lord Deben, mentioned, a lot of issues have come up in the past few weeks. Last week, we had the series of amendments that were ably put forward by the noble Lord, Lord Carlile, which dealt with a very serious issue. The week before, we had five separate issues dealing with prisoners, pregnant women, et cetera, and we have had other issues. I know we are only part way through Committee, but if the noble and learned Lord wants the House to compress the process, rather than have to reiterate all this on Report, then I think it would make a difference to how people approach the rest of this legislation if he brought forward coherent amendments that address the issues that have been raised. I do not mean to be unkind, but there is no point in him getting up every Friday like Stonewall Jackson and saying, basically, “I’m right and you’re wrong”. There is a difference of opinion—a chasm, in many respects—over a lot of these issues. To be brutal about it, we need to see the colour of his money. I hope that would allow us to go forward, but unless we deal with these fundamental, basic issues then we will have a very long slog indeed.