On 3rd December 2015 I took the opportunity in Business Questions to praise the Welsh Labour Government’s ground-breaking law on automatic consent organ donation. In Wales, as of December 2015, all adults are now presumed to consent to donating organs upon their death unless they specifically ‘opt out’.
I asked Leader of the House of Commons, Chris Grayling MP, if there could be a debate here in the House of Commons on the topic, so that England can follow Wales’ lead in tackling the long waiting lists for organ donation.
The full question I asked was:
“The Welsh Labour Government ground breaking presumed consent organ donation law came into effect this week. With more than 10,000 people across the UK waiting for an organ transplant can we have a debate in Government time please on presumed consent so that England can follow Wales’ lead?”
Chris Grayling, Leader of the House of Commons response was:
“This is a really great and important point and one that is well worthy of consideration. What I would say to her is that this does feel to me to be something that the backbench business committee could bring to this house. That debate would give the Government a good indication of where the balance of opinion is in this house and is a way in which we would want to understand the views of members, and that is the best way of doing it.”
I welcome the Leader of the House’s comments and it is good to see that he and the Government are open to discussing this law becoming a reality in England. I will now liaise with the Back Bench Business Committee to call for a debate on presumed consent for organ donation in England.
You can watch the exchange here: