Biography
Lord Blencathra has made 40 debate speeches across a wide range of health and social care topics, with a particularly strong focus on assisted dying and end-of-life care, where he tabled multiple amendments to the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill addressing safeguards for vulnerable groups, non-medical motivations, and capacity assessment requirements. His contributions also span learning disability, mental health, cancer care, adult social care, NHS workforce issues, and elderly care, though the assisted dying legislation has dominated his recent engagement on these topics. Beyond health matters, his recent speeches have addressed civil aviation consumer protection, railways, immigration, flood prevention technology, and tobacco regulation.
Generated from their own Hansard record, below
“My Lords, I will speak to Amendment 5; it is the only amendment to which I shall speak on Report. I can tell the House that I have now beaten Frank Gardner’s record for being left on a plane. On 24 June, my flight back from Basel left the city 45 minutes late. We touched down at exactly 9.10 pm at Heathrow.”
Record by topic
- Palliative & end of life care44th of 56832.0
- Assisted dying35th of 37124.0
- Learning disability & autism221st of 89918.0
- Mental health290th of 88012.0
- Public health & prevention125th of 68812.0
- Cancer175th of 62210.0
- Elderly care & frailty30th of 2366.0
- GP access49th of 2416.0
- Hospital discharge / bed-blocking34th of 1394.0
- Heart disease & stroke150th of 3984.0
- Dementia101st of 2514.0
- NHS & care workforce/staffing236th of 3022.0
- Maternity & neonatal363rd of 4382.0
- Adult social care & reform312th of 3762.0
What they’ve said
“My Lords, I pay tribute to the noble Lord, Lord Wilson of Dinton. He was the Permanent Secretary of the Home Office when I was the Minister of State there for four years. He was an excellent civil servant, diligently and neutrally delivering our policies. He was also kind and helpful to me personally.”
Railways Bill · 2026-07-07 · Read on Hansard ↗
“…Its historic and ongoing impact is deeply woven into our country’s economic foundations, public health, and social welfare. From medicine and healthcare to banking and retail, charity and philanthropy, law and—look around us—politics, Jews have helped to make this country great.”
King’s Speech · 2026-05-18 · Read on Hansard ↗
“…Nevertheless, I feel it falls short of what is required to protect the most vulnerable people who need assisted dying. The new clause presents the independent advocate as a safeguard: a final protective layer for those who may be isolated, frail or at risk of coercion.”
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill · 2026-03-20 · Read on Hansard ↗
“My Lords, the United Kingdom has developed some excellent technological flood detection and prevention solutions, including FloodAdapt, Nautilus barriers, Floodstop, flood defence and others.”
Flood Detection and Prevention: Technological Assistance · 2026-03-19 · Read on Hansard ↗
“…Clause 2(b), which states, “ensure that a person (to be known as ‘the National Specialty Lead for Rare Cancers’) is appointed with a job description that includes promoting and facilitating research into rare cancers by … providing advice in relation to the design and planning of research, and … facilitating collaborat…”
Rare Cancers Bill · 2026-02-27 · Read on Hansard ↗
Contributions reproduced under the Open Parliament Licence.