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Human Tissue Bill

Mr. Frank Dobson: As my hon. Friend the Member for Linlithgow (Mr. Dalyell) will confirm, I have opposed the opting-out proposition both from the Opposition Front Bench and as a Minister. However, as I have listened to recent discussions, in particular the speech made by the right hon. and learned Member for Rushcliffe (Mr. Clarke) the last time that we debated the subject and the speech made by the hon. Member for Oxford, West and Abingdon (Dr. Harris) today, I have become more doubtful. We have to recognise that the present system is not working: it does not produce enough organs to meet the needs of people who would be able to live a decent life if they had an organ transplant. I do not think that we can go on as we are, but nor do I think that simply attaching the opting-out proposition to the Bill is the best way forward.

There are a lot of arguments in both directions. It is ridiculous that we have reached a position in which Ministers assert that the French did something and the proposer of the new clause says that that is not the case. The least that the Government can do is to agree to produce a Green Paper or a discussion document setting out the facts of what has happened in those countries that have introduced an opt-out system. My principal concern about such a system is that there might be a terrible, scandalous incident that would be provoked into public hysteria by the news media. There would then be a huge falling off in the willingness of people to have their organs used. However, it should not be beyond the wit of this Parliament to come up with a proposition that would, generally speaking, protect against that.

Mr. Dalyell: My right hon. Friend is absolutely right. What scuppered things in the late 1960s and early 1970s was a scandalous incident whereby two patients were moved across my right hon. Friend's city of London to die in the right place, to the advantage of a particular renal surgeon. That was devastating for a cause that was otherwise a sensible one.

Mr. Dobson: I accept that. I recall the point that my hon. Friend is making.
It is wrong for the Government to have a whipped vote this evening, but despite that I will probably be voting with them. That is because I would want from the Government Front Bench an undertaking that we shall have a thorough-going examination of the whole issue.

Mrs. Gwyneth Dunwoody (Crewe and Nantwich) (Lab): I know that my right hon. Friend is putting forward an informed and sensible proposition. However, does he accept that we have been debating these matters not for 10 years or for 20 years, but for as long as I can remember? Many people are dying now and not in the next 20 years. Does he agree that to ask for a Green Paper is, in House of Commons terms, putting back a very difficult decision that many of us do not want to take but one that we have a special responsibility to take?

Mr. Dobson: I accept all the points that my hon. Friend is making. I accept that it is a difficult decision. There are those on the extreme edges of both arguments who are certain, but there are many in the middle ground who are extremely confused, and who come from both ends of the spectrum. We owe it to them and to the people of this country generally that if we are to change the law, we must get it right. The worst thing that we could do would be to change the law in a way that ended up with a mess. We are not particularly good at making changes to the law on the hoof. We are not too good at making clear and sensible laws at the best of times, but as I have said we are pretty bad at changing things on the hoof. However, there is no reason why, within two or three months, the Government cannot come up with a closely argued proposition, setting out the views of the chief medical officer and others, so that there is thorough-going consideration. Then the Government can introduce a Bill in the next Queen's Speech and get on with things. That is what we should do.