House of Lords
Parliament

Lord Winston makes a very emotional contribution to the debate, telling the House about the premature death of his father after a string of innovative treatments.

He says that this is not the reason for his opposition to the bill, but was to explain that he too knows the pain of seeing a loved one die in those circumstances.

Lord Winston says that his main concern with the bill is "that we do not use innovation where we might compromise patient safety".

House of Lords
Parliament

Lord Winston agrees to withdraw his first amendments after assurances from Lord Saatchi that there will be discussions on the issues before the bill's third reading.

Lord Winston now speaks to the next group of amendments, beginning with his amendment 2 which would mean that the bill would not apply when medical opinion thinks a treatment would compromise patient safety.

House of Lords
Parliament

Lord Winston expresses his disappointment that his amendment 6 is being opposed, as he says that it is very important that "innovation" is defined within the bill as there is "very, very, considerable confusion" amongst doctors about the bill.

Lord Winston tells the House that it is worth bearing in mind that a long list of leading medical bodies are concerned about the bill.

House of Lords
Parliament

Lord Saatchi speaks to Lord Winston's amendments, saying that his amendment 14 addresses the issue raised in Lord Winston's amendment 1 - that the bill should not apply to emergency situations.

Speaking to Lord Winston's amendment 6, Lord Saatchi says that trying to give "innovation" a statutory definition in the bill could do more harm than good.

House of Lords
Parliament

Mark D'Arcy
Parliamentary correspondent

Former Ld Chief Justice Ld Woolf backs #Saatchibill saying lawyers and doctors both cd be guilty of excessive conservatism

House of Lords
Parliament

Government spokesperson, Baroness Jolly, says that the government does not accept Lord Winston's amendment 1, saying that it could possibly confuse doctors as to when the bill applies.

Baroness Jolly calls on the House to support Lord Saatchi's amendments which she says address many of the concerns raised by peers in debate at committee stage.

House of Lords
Parliament

House of Lords
Parliament

Lord Woolf says that the bill is a "valuable step" rather than the end of the journey on the route of getting the balance right between innovation and protection of the patient.

House of Lords
Parliament

Baroness Wheeler is the first to speak from the frontbenches and outlines the Labour Party's position on the bill.

Baroness Wheeler says that Labour support the key principles and intent of the bill.

She says Labour have sought to work constructively with Lord Saatchi and other Lords to improve the bill and make it "workable and safe for patients".

House of Lords
Parliament

Matt Kaiser ‏tweets: Medical research charities' joint statement on #SaatchiBill, external

House of Lords
Parliament

Lord Colwyn speaks in support of Lord Winston's amendments.

Lord Colwyn says there is a need for "maximum clarity" for when and where the bill applies.

He says that without the clarity added by Lord Winston's amendments, the bill could, despite good intentions, potentially be dangerous.

House of Lords
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Lord Winston is speaking to amendments 1 and 6 to the bill.

Amendment 1 would mean that the bill would not apply when there isn't time to consult with another doctor.

Amendment 6 seeks to define what is meant by the word "innovation" in the bill.

House of Lords
Parliament

House of Commons
Parliament

In a Commons debate this week Conservative MP Dr Sarah Wollaston called on the government not to support the bill.

Dr Wollaston worked as a GP for 20 years before becoming entering Parliament at the 2010 election.

Dr Wollaston warned that the bill would undermine innovation and push "desperate" patients towards unscrupulous doctors.

You can watch Dr Wollaston's adjournment debate here.

Mark D'Arcy
Parliamentary correspondent

The BBC's Mark D'Arcy asks what will be the fate of Lord Saatchi's bill?

Today there are 15 amendments to be considered at report stage, including from the fertility expert Lord Winston, the Labour front-bencher Lord Hunt of King's Heath and several from Lord Saatchi himself (this last is not at all unusual - the promoters of bills, including ministers, often bring in amendments to respond to points raised in earlier debates).

But what happens then? The bill may well get a third reading at some point in the new year, but it must also get through the Commons to become law...

House of Lords
Parliament

The first item of business today is Lord Saatchi's controversial Medical Innovation Bill.

Lord Saatchi's bill calls for laws relating to cancer treatment to be changed.

The bill aims to create a policy which will allow medical practitioners to depart from standard practice.

Lord Saatchi hopes to encourage innovative treatment within medical practice when other options are limited. The bill states that it is not negligent for a doctor to depart from standard practice under certain conditions.

Lord Saatchi argues that progress in cancer treatments and other diseases is limited by restrictive existing rules.

House of Lords
Parliament

Welcome to our live coverage of Friday's business in Parliament.

It is just the House of Lords sitting today, and peers will be debating Lord Saatchi's Medical Innovation Bill at report stage.

The other debates tabled today in the Lords are second reading of the Cohabitation Rights Bill, and the report stage of House of Lords (Expulsion and Suspension) Bill.