Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill

Martin Vickers Excerpts

2nd reading
Friday 11th September 2026 Commons Chamber

[Martin Vickers (Brigg and Immingham) (Con)]

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, for giving me the opportunity to speak in this important debate. Understandably, we have heard some passionate and courageous contributions, such as the one from the hon. Member for West Lancashire (Ashley Dalton), who is no longer in her place. She made a remarkable contribution to the debate.

In this House, we discuss a whole range of issues week in, week out. Many of them are rather mundane, but nothing is more important than issues of life and death. To be honest, I would have thought that the mountain of briefings, reports and individual letters, particularly from a number of clinicians, would have been sufficient to persuade most people that this is an unsafe Bill, but I want to speak about the wider implications. Other Members have mentioned the impact on society. I claim no particular insight; indeed, I see through a glass darkly.

Some of us believe that life is God-given, and others do not, but I am sure we can all agree that it is uniquely precious and that we should do all we can to preserve it. I do not in any way question the motives of hon. Members or members of the public who take a different view. As we have heard today, many will have reached their conclusions having witnessed the slow and sometimes painful death of a loved one. I am of the firm view that if assisted dying is legalised, we will be poorer as a society. We will have crossed a line. We will have accepted that, to adapt the phrase I used earlier, life is not uniquely precious and, importantly, we will have changed the relationship between doctor and patient. That relationship is crucial, and it could be compromised if a patient was anything other than 100% certain that their doctor or clinician was striving to maintain life. When we are old, weak and seriously ill, we need compassion and support, not the nagging doubt that the treatment that we are receiving is not entirely—

[Rachel Taylor]

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

[Martin Vickers]

No, I cannot give way. There is no time for interventions.

As society has evolved and civilisation has advanced, care of the vulnerable, those who are sick and those who need comfort as they near the end of their lives has become a higher priority, and rightly so. In preparation for this debate, I re-read an article that the former Supreme Court Justice, Lord Sumption, published in the Sunday Times in November 2024. We cannot produce legislation that meets every circumstance. Lord Sumption stated that

“the decision to allow doctors to help bring about the death of a human being crosses a major moral threshold.”

I think that is sufficient warning that we should be very confident that the Bill has the necessary safeguards, and I do not believe it does. As I say, we cannot produce legislation for every individual circumstance, so we are left with the alternative: to include sufficient safeguards. Even for those who support the Bill in principle, it does not have those safeguards. If one is old, frail, weak and seriously ill, one needs help, support and compassion, not the added worry and the nagging doubt over whether everything possible is being done to preserve one’s life.

Both of my parents died of cancer and suffered in their final months. I well remember the telephone call from the consultant after the tests on my father, when he said, “We must hope that God is merciful and does not allow him to suffer for too long.” Although he did suffer, he lived for a further six months after I received that fateful call, and in that six months I saw him enjoying life and sharing time with his then four-year-old granddaughter. In his final weeks, he spent time in St Andrew’s hospice in Grimsby. I saw then what comfort could be offered through palliative care. No longer did he suffer the periods of pain that he had had in earlier weeks. That happened as long ago as 1988, and things have improved dramatically since that time.

[Dr Neil Hudson (Epping Forest) (Con)]

Will my hon. Friend give way?

[Martin Vickers]

I will take one intervention.

[Dr Hudson]

I am very grateful to my hon. Friend for giving way. Quite rightly, when we enter this life, the NHS and the state support us through obstetrics, gynaecology, maternal health, neonatology and paediatrics. However, at the other end of our life, when we leave this world, the charitable sector picks things up, and the majority of support is delivered outside the NHS. Surely that cannot be right as a society. Surely we have to fix that and sort out palliative care before we go anywhere near this Bill.

[Martin Vickers]

My hon. Friend makes an important point.

Let me go back to St Andrew’s hospice in Grimsby. My mother died in hospital on the day that she was due to be moved into that hospice—how I wish that only a day or two earlier she had been able to do that, and to receive the care that I know from subsequent visits the hospice has provided.

We all have to cope with the loss of loved ones, and such experience raises in the mind of any right-thinking person the question of how we minimise suffering. If someone has previously indicated their wish to hasten their death, I acknowledge that it is extremely difficult to say, “Sorry, that is not possible.” However, I believe that moves to legislate for assisted dying would be yet another step that lessens the value that we as a society place on human life.

I suggest to the House that the expert opinions and personal stories we have all received must, even if Members favour assisted dying in principle, make us think seriously about whether this Bill is the right vehicle. In my view, it is not. Too many safeguards are lacking, and the Bill must be rejected. Life is precious, and we should recognise that.