Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill

Baroness Pidgeon Excerpts

2nd reading
Friday 19th September 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Pidgeon (LD)]

My Lords, I rise to speak at the end of this important and significant debate. I thank Kim Leadbeater MP and the noble and learned Lord, Lord Falconer, for leading this significant Private Member’s Bill through Parliament. I must add that this is a free vote on these Benches, and I am therefore not speaking on behalf of my party.

We have heard passionate speakers on both sides of this debate and many Members flagging important issues they want to see looked at to ensure that processes work and safeguards are in place. I have every confidence that these will be addressed in Committee. I want to emphasise that I was particularly moved by the very personal stories last week from the noble Lords, Lord Mitchell and Lord Alderdice. Throughout our lives we are able to make decisions about most things that affect us: where to live, what to eat, how to live your live, what to do each day, and so on. Yet the one thing we do not have any control over is our end of life.

When someone has been diagnosed with a terminal illness, I believe it is only right, with the necessary safeguards in place, for them to be able to choose at the right time and place for them to end their life. BBC News ran a very moving package earlier this year about a man in the United States. The gentleman was terminally ill but, having seen relatives die terrible, drawn-out deaths in significant pain, he wanted to die on his terms. The safeguards were strong; his family supported his wishes, and he died at home with his family around him as he had wanted. This should be a right here too.

As we have heard from others across this Chamber, this is already happening here now. Loved ones who are able to do so are travelling to Switzerland or staying at home and taking their own lives. This leaves behind devastation for their families, who pick up the pieces afterwards and are haunted by the experience. Like my colleagues in this House, I have been overwhelmed by the many personal letters and emails I have received from people across the country with their own stories; I thank each of them for taking the trouble to share their personal thoughts on this issue.

I am at an age where, in the past two years, I have lost my father-in-law and my mother-in-law to long, drawn-out illnesses. Sadly, my own mother has terminal cancer. I would have liked all of them to have had the option to decide whether they wanted the right moment for them to go to sleep and leave this world; I know that my father-in-law certainly wanted this. I do not want people to have to suffer in pain and discomfort, as many do now even with the palliative care services that exist. I stress that investment in palliative care services sits beside this legislation, not as an alternative.

This Bill is about improving health at a time of suffering. It is about being able to live with dignity and die with dignity. For those people with a terminal diagnosis, this is not a choice between life and death; it is a choice between death and death. Having some control over the dying process and being able to die on your own terms must be a right. I want people to have that choice, control and freedom.

This legislation has gone through line-by-line, rigorous scrutiny in the elected Chamber. On a free vote, our MPs voted for this Bill. It is not for this House to obstruct this legislation, which has been supported by elected Members of Parliament. I hope that this Chamber will play its proper role in reviewing the legislation without seeking to prevent the Bill moving forward. I support the right of individuals to choose their end of life, and I hope that this House will do the same.