Kevin McKenna

No, I will not. Many colleagues have talked about whether this debate has been too short, too long, too complicated or not complicated enough. I have heard questions about whether the Bill is ready to for us to hand on to the House of Lords. To be clear, I believe that it is. It is really important to remember that we have been debating this issue not just during this Parliament; the debate has gone on for decades. I remember being taught by a really strong advocate for palliative care when I was a student nurse; he was dead set against assisted dying. His argument was that if we bring in assisted dying, it will mean that palliative care will never get the funding and resources that it needs—something that so many people have said. That was nearly 30 years ago, and we have not grasped that nettle as a country. At the end of this debate, I really hope that we can finally bring to fruition the ambition of almost every Member of this House: the ambition to ensure that palliative care works and is accessible to everyone in this country. However, if we do, that is not a reason not to have assisted dying. Assisted dying is the choice of many people in this country, and I want it to be a choice for me. If I get to that point in my life, I want that choice available to me, and that will be true for some other Members. Still others do not want to ever have that choice, but it needs to be there. I want people to think about themselves as well.