Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill

Debate between Lord Markham and Baroness Falkner of Margravine

Committee stage
Friday 23rd January 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Markham (Con)]

Given that I did not write any of the manifestos, I am not sure I can say. If I was writing them, it is something that I would probably put in. It is something that everyone agrees is one of personal choice, like many other issues, and of course that is why everyone has a free vote in this matter. It is undeniable that there is overwhelming public support for this and, as it is “our NHS”, it is entirely fitting that if it is the decision that money is spent in this way, it should be directed towards this service.

The question becomes one of what I believe the noble Lords, Lord Birt and Lord Pannick, are trying to do in their amendments, which is to take what we know is a complex system and make it as easy to navigate as possible. We know that it is a time of great distress. In many cases you have just been diagnosed with a terminal illness, and sometimes you will be told straightaway that you have only a few months to live, so automatically you are within the six months and it is something you want to move on quickly. It is entirely right and proper that you want to ensure that it then happens as efficiently as possible. That does not mean you do not want other services to happen as efficiently as possible in the NHS. It is not a binary choice between one and the other.

[Baroness Falkner of Margravine (CB)]

The noble Lord has repeated on several occasions the fact of overwhelming public support for this. Does he agree that there are a lot of other areas in which opinion polling may show public support, but the job of this House is to ensure that the support is buttressed by legislation that is deliverable, is compassionate, respects the rights of all and is applicable across a range of different situations?

[Lord Markham (Con)]

Yes, absolutely. That is what these debates are all about: trying to find an approach that makes assisted dying tight and safe, safeguarding all sorts of vulnerable groups, but also navigable. I know that is what the sponsors of the Bill are trying to do and what the noble Lords are trying to do in this amendment. I commend the amendment for that reason. I do not think they are trying to be prescriptive. They are trying to start a conversation with the Bill’s sponsors that will go on between now and Report, which is an entirely constructive way to do it.

On how the service is best provided, I was on the Select Committee and it is one for the NHS to commission in the best way. Commissioning can use the NHS or voluntary services, and I think we would all agree that, in the hospice sector, voluntary services provide very well. It is wrong at this stage for us to try to be prescriptive in terms of a one-size-fits-all NHS provision. The main thing on these amendments is trying to get a constructive approach, which I am sure the Bill’s sponsors will pick up, to how we make this as simple as possible to use for those who are in the most distressing period of their lives, when they have less than six months to live and they want to die in a method of their choice and in the most comfortable way possible.

Junior Doctors’ Strikes

Debate between Lord Markham and Baroness Falkner of Margravine

Monday 17th April 2023 Lords Chamber

[Lord Markham (Con)]

I am afraid I cannot provide a lot more information to the noble Lord, except that complications now include the purdah for local government elections, so I am trying to find out more details on this very subject as to when a date could be set. I am afraid to say I cannot give much more of an update than to say it will be released shortly. What I will say is that, among all this, we are still seeing increases in staff. I was delighted to see that we now have 5,100 more doctors in place than last year, and we have had an increase over the last few years of 30,000 nurses. So, there are movements in the right direction, but clearly more needs to be done.

[Baroness Falkner of Margravine (CB)]

My Lords, we still call it the National Health Service, but the Minister will be aware of the alarming figures for people who have no choice but to move to private provision of care. The numbers registering even for GP services privately must give cause for alarm, because we have got to be in this together to retain the national character of the National Health Service. I appreciate the Government’s concern about higher inflation due to very large settlements, but perhaps the answer is to sit down through ACAS, as the noble Baroness said, and think about slightly more generous one-off payments, because that will not bake in the inflation or increase costs in the longer term.

[Lord Markham (Con)]

I thank the noble Baroness. As I mentioned, we felt we had put a fair offer on the table—something that was recommended by the trade union leaders themselves. I think we need to see the overall verdict come out across the board on all this. I note that less than a third of the membership of the RCN actually turned it down in the end, so we have to see what the overall outcome is. There is an absolute commitment on our side to continue meeting constructively with the RCN and to use all means possible to get to a solution.