Lord Kamall (Con)

My Lords, it has been a long day at the end of a long week for many noble Lords, so I do not seek to make a long speech. But before I respond to the debate on this group of amendments, I want to thank all staff from across the House who have worked extra hours to ensure that we could be here today and at this late hour. We really do appreciate it. I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Berger, for introducing the amendments in such a clear and, more importantly, concise manner. As my noble friend Lord Blencathra said, the principle behind this group is very similar to that behind the last group: what is being sought is that doctors should seek to establish whether those who are terminally ill, and who have been given a prognosis of six months or less to live, are seeking an assisted death for those reasons only—their terminal condition—and not material factors. My noble friend Lord Markham explained why other motivations are relevant, could be relevant or could be reasons for people wishing to die or seeking an assisted death. Contrary to that, the noble Lords, Lord Mawson and Lord Carlile, referred to misunderstandings and pressures, particularly on people from black, Asian and other minority ethnic communities. It reminds me of a comment that the noble Lord, Lord Rees of Easton, made at Second Reading—a man who spent all his life working with black communities in Bristol—who said he was concerned about the impact of this Bill on black communities. The noble Baroness, Lady Grey-Thompson, has also spoken of her own very real experience and concern for people in the system, if the motivation is not purely because they are terminally ill but might be because of other factors. I know that my noble friend Lord Deben shares these concerns. I just gently remind him that he is not as unique a Conservative as he believes he is; all Conservatives want a better society. In fact, most politicians from all parties go into politics because they want a better society. We are on different Benches simply because we disagree on how to achieve that. Conservatives would probably say that the state is not the same thing as society.