Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill

Debate between Rebecca Paul and Jeevun Sandher

Friday 16th May 2025 Commons Chamber

[Rebecca Paul]

I thank my right hon. Friend for making that point; he is absolutely right.

I have tabled amendment 80, which would bring the Bill back to its original intentions. It would require that in order to be eligible for an assisted death, the pain and discomfort experienced or expected from a person’s terminal illness could not be reasonably relieved to their satisfaction through palliative care. It seeks to limit assisted death to the very small group of people who may benefit from it, not the larger group who just need adequate palliative care to give them the comfortable, dignified death they deserve.

[Dr Jeevun Sandher (Loughborough) (Lab)]

The hon. Member’s amendment speaks of “severe pain and discomfort”, but there is a reason why the medical profession has not gone for that. How does she propose we assess severe pain and discomfort as opposed to medium pain? Is a fungating wound part of severe pain and discomfort?

[Rebecca Paul]

The key point is that we need to improve palliative care. We are spending so much time and effort focusing on this Bill rather than doing the thing that would actually help more people. My amendment 80, in combination with amendments 30 and 31 tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Dr Spencer), would drive significant improvements to palliative and end-of-life care, getting us closer to consistent and universally available care for all.