Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill

Baroness Wheeler Excerpts

Friday 9th January 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Harries of Pentregarth (CB)]

My Lords, could I just put one thing to the noble and learned Lord? Granted that the panel and the court-based system have a great deal in common, six months to live and mental capacity are clear and settled decisions—

[Captain of the King’s Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard and Deputy Chief Whip (Baroness Wheeler) (Lab)]

Could I ask the noble and learned Lord, Lord Falconer, to write to the noble and right reverend Lord about those things? We have had enough explanation from the noble and learned Lord. We need to move on to the noble Lord, Lord Carlile.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Carlile of Berriew (CB)]

My Lords, I will speak very briefly in relation to Amendments 186, 251 and 380, all of which were tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Hunt of Kings Heath, and two of which are supported by me. The noble Lord has asked me to give his apologies to the Committee; his wife has suffered an accident and he is, quite rightly, looking after her at home.

I know that the noble Lord, Lord Hunt, would have agreed, as I do, with many of the speeches that have been made to the effect that palliative care knowledge must be a prerequisite in any person’s decision-making. There have been many excellent speeches. I simply refer to two as examples: one from the noble Baroness, Lady Brown of Silvertown, and the other from my noble friend Lord Carter.

I represented a constituency in rural Wales that consists of 839 square miles with no general hospital. I absolutely take the point made by my noble friend Lady Watkins that a great deal of the skill and knowledge in relation to palliative care does not depend on there being a general hospital and can be supplied by nurses; for example, those who work in the area concerned. However, it is extremely important that nobody—whether they live somewhere remote, or they live somewhere populous but feel remote—should be deprived of a contribution from, and knowledge of, palliative care before ever making such a decision.

[Baroness Wheeler (Lab)]

My Lords, it is now 2.33 pm. I suggest that the Committee might like to hear from Front-Benchers now to ensure that we can conclude proceedings in an orderly manner, as planned, around 3 pm.

[Lord Goodman of Wycombe (Con)]

I have an amendment to which I have not yet been able to speak. Surely it is right and proper that those of us who have tabled amendments should be able to speak—especially where, as is true in my case, a noble Lord was a member of the Select Committee that examined this Bill. If the Committee will allow it, I would like briefly to quote some of the evidence that we heard.

[Baroness Wheeler (Lab)]

My Lords, the House generally rises around 3 pm on Fridays. To go beyond 3 pm, we would need the consent of the Committee.

[Lord Goodman of Wycombe (Con)]

I will be extremely brief but, as I said, I have tabled an amendment and have been waiting patiently to speak to it, if I may. My Amendment 394 would require the assessing doctor to arrange, and require the person to attend, a consultation with a palliative care specialist. Like the noble Baroness, Lady Finlay, who moved the lead amendment in this group, and the noble Baroness, Lady Smith, who spoke earlier, I was on the Select Committee. I will not repeat the evidence that the noble Baroness, Lady Smith, quoted, but I shall very briefly quote a little more, because the merit of having these Select Committee reports is that the House hears them.

The Royal College of General Practitioners said:

“It is essential to ensure that every patient approaching the end of life has access to high-quality palliative care”.


Secondly, Professor Mumtaz Patel of the Royal College of Practitioners said:

“What I really fear is that people are making sometimes these choices because of the lack of provision around good palliative care”.


Thirdly, Hospice UK, in its written evidence to us, said:

“Should the Bill progress, it is therefore essential that Government does far more to ensure equitable access to and provision of palliative care ahead of the introduction of assisted dying in practice”.


I could quote more, but because of the time constraint, I will come to a conclusion, as requested.

My conclusion is this. When the noble and learned Lord, Lord Falconer, gave evidence to our committee, he stressed at the start that the guiding principle of the Bill is autonomy, but autonomy is compromised if there is not real choice. To those who say that you cannot have real choice between assisted dying and palliative care because the palliative care is not available, my response is that that is precisely why this should have been considered by a royal commission, rather than being brought into this Bill, which has been so heavily criticised by two Select Committees of this House. However, we are where we are, this is the Bill as we have it, so I wait to hear from the sponsor of the Bill which of these amendments he is prepared to accept and, if he is not, which amendments he himself will bring forward in due course.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Blencathra (Con)]

My Lords, this is a self-regulating House, and that does not mean that a Government Whip can regulate who can speak and who cannot. I echo the point made by my noble friend. If the only way one can speak in these debates is to sign amendments, I know what to do in future.

I spoke for five minutes on the Friday before Christmas and said not a peep in the debate earlier today because it was not my speciality. I have been waiting here for two hours to make a speech on palliative care, and we seem to have been refused the right to do so because the Government Whip wants us not to say anything so that we can finish at 3 o’clock. I agree that we can finish at 3 o’clock—it is a simple matter for the House to adjourn and come back to polish off this matter next Friday morning—but it would be absolutely outrageous for noble Lords who have not had a chance to speak at all on palliative care to be refused the right to do so because the Government have imposed an arbitrary timetable on us.

[Baroness Wheeler (Lab)]

My Lords, it is not an arbitrary timetable. Many people have spoken on palliative care both at Second Reading and today, and I respect that totally. I am just saying that we need to respect the rules of the House to be able to adjourn. It is better if we finish this amendment so that we can start the next session with a new debate.