Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill

Debate between Lord Carlile of Berriew and Baroness Wheeler

Committee stage
Friday 9th January 2026 Lords Chamber

[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.