Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill

Debate between Lord Ashcombe and Lord Markham

Friday 5th December 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Ashcombe (Con)]

My Lords, I take noble Lords back to when they were young; we have all been there. I suspect that we all remember the odd and what may now seem very troubling ideas that sometimes passed through our minds during those years. Many of us have also watched our children—and for some of us, I dare say, grandchildren, though I am not there yet—navigate that turbulent stage of life. These formative years are full of experimentation, confusion and growth. They are not the years in which irreversible decisions should be entertained. Therefore, I am very much in favour of increasing the age limit to 25, as the noble Baroness, Lady Berger, suggests.

[Lord Markham (Con)]

My Lords, this has been a really good discussion showing the range of views and expert opinion that we have here. I think I heard from the noble and learned Lord, Lord Falconer, that he was willing to look at the age question. I think he said that he was more likely to add safeguards—