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Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill [HL]

First, Amendment No. 21 refers to resources for embryonic stem cell research and adult stem cell research. At Second Reading, the Minister gave an answer which identified the level of resources going into each area of research. However, does the noble Lord, Lord Alton, accept that the Medical Research Council based its decision on best science and not necessarily on whether there was equity among the different areas simply for the sake of being equitable? On my second point, I have much more sympathy with the noble Lord, Lord Alton. Amendment No. 62 refers to the hyperstimulation of ovaries. My professional colleague, the noble Lord, Lord Winston, very lucidly set out the difficulties of collecting those data. However, my sympathy with the noble Lord lies in the fact that I should like to see a greater degree of patient safety being promoted in all aspects of medicine. I know that the Minister is also interested in patient safety. I hope that all the units that provide in vitro fertilisation adhere to the excellent guidelines produced by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, which the noble Lord mentioned, to try to reduce the incidence of moderate and severe hyperstimulation of ovaries. However, as I said, we have heard about the difficulties of data-collecting due to problems of definition, and that would just create an extra burden without producing any return.