Was like reading my own biography.

Yes. And I am glad we had this conversation. Thank you.

Me too. Absolutely 100 per cent. I think what you describe is the death we all would want. I just can’t give myself that freedom unless I know no one will be harmed by it. And this bill does not convince me no one will be harmed.

These events can be managed. I appreciate they are not, and that is beyond awful, but that for me is the issue.

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...

This law only helps in the handful of cases where that outcome is known months in advance. It’s a horrific death but that doesn’t make assisted dying the answer. The answer is terminal sedation which could be available to everyone without legal process. And which would not have the same risks.

With palliative care there should not be agony. Your scenario is an ideal but the reality is there will be people afraid of bad deaths they have heard about, people who are coerced, and people with disabilities or elderly who are approved for this because doctors see them as having less value.

So it won’t ease suffering for those genuinely at end of life, it will simply give terminal people not at end of life control of when they die. It’s about control not pain. And then we are back where we started! I don’t think that is a freedom I want at the possible cost of someone else’s life.

I am saying the examples used are of people at the end of life in terrible suffering, who did not get the right palliative care. But to be safe this law will be so process bound it won’t be something you can opt for at the very end. How is that not just assisted suicide?

I have struggled with this all the way through. If it’s going to be as difficult as it needs to be to be truly safe then it becomes a trauma in itself that won’t help any of those people who actually come to the end of their lives and need a painless death?

And I agree that is wrong. But feel that this law will mean the wealthy can pay to prolong their lives with private care while the poor feel like a burden and are pressured to end theirs early. You and I both want social justice.

An awful thing about death is that in the end we can’t control it? This makes the idea we could regain that control deeply attractive. But I don’t want that right for myself if it risks that someone else is coerced or acts out of fear or post-diagnosis depression.

I think we all need to listen on both sides. I am sorry for your friend’s loss and trauma. I have also cared for relatives at end of life. Palliative sedation is legal. It can prevent these situations but is not always being used appropriately. It would help a lot more people than this bill.

There are plenty of reasoned, intelligent people opposed to this bill. A lot of them are disabled, vulnerable and understand from the pandemic how little the able bodied will do to protect them. Please can we keep this a space of compassion where the vulnerable are listened to.

Because of the way the AHRC has calculated research capacity many newer institutions will get 0 scholarships under the new scheme having been entirely excluded from the landscape award scheme. Would love for someone at the AHRC to explain how that aligns with their EDI commitment.

Have you tried the dark chocolate orange ones? Those are my favourites. But I have to leave the packet in the cupboard or I am in trouble.

Unfortunately I fear that’s their best selves.