Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill

Lord Pannick Excerpts

Friday 13th March 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Deben (Con)]

I will give way in a moment but I wish to finish my sentence—and to being a society that cares for people right to the end of their lives. I know what sort of society I want to live in: one that looks after the most vulnerable at their most vulnerable time. If they are to be given that alternative, it is clearly unconnected with the fundamental moral duty of a society: to look after those who cannot look after themselves.

[Lord Pannick (CB)]

How are we looking after the most vulnerable at the most vulnerable time of their life if we isolate them from those who have given them care in the most difficult time of their life, when they are about to die?

[Lord Deben (Con)]

The proposal here is not isolating them in all the things that matter; it is doing something quite different. It is saying that those who are looking after them continue to look after them and give the information that is necessary for those who will make judgments to make those judgments. It is making a distinction between care—that is, the people we are talking about—and a decision about life and death. That decision should not be made by the people who are looking after them, but the people who are looking after them should provide information to those who are making an objective decision. That is why putting carefulness at the heart of what we do, and putting the rest to one side, is a proper way of dealing with it.