I welcome the Tory motion, because I think we don't talk enough about death, even though it faces us all eventually. I think one of the worst things about the pandemic is people dying in hospital without their loved ones holding on to them. So, I absolutely salute the heroic efforts of nursing and social care staff, who have enabled people to die with dignity, even if they haven't been able to say goodbye to their loved ones, except through some sort of device.

Most people want to die at home. That is an absolute fact. I think that Sir Tom Moore—one of the things that is so wonderful about him is that he lived life absolutely to the full right to the very end. He even went on a bucket holiday to Barbados just before he died, so good luck to him. But, he had the good fortune to live with at least two generations of his family, and we have to acknowledge, as the amendment does, that not everyone has family who have the room to accommodate the older generation as well as the younger generation.

For people who don't have family at all, care homes can provide a really good alternative social network for people who find it difficult to move around. So, I think that staff in care homes have done an extraordinary job in dealing with the challenges thrown at them during the pandemic. But, as we move out of the pandemic, I would really like to see care homes becoming more integrated into the communities where they are, and becoming more democratic in their way of operating.

The worst thing about a care home, from my perspective, is its potential isolation from the rest of society. I know there are excellent initiatives to enable children to go into care homes and sing songs or talk to older people, and those are all to be applauded. But, there really is a great deal more that we could do that they do in places like Scandinavia and Holland to make care homes part of the community—places where food prepared by the staff with residents is then sold to the general public.

Lastly, I just want to say that I think that the neighbourhood nursing pilots—the evaluation that was done of them is a clear indication of the path that I would like to see us go down to ensure that people can remain in their own home, with the care and support that they need, for as long as possible. That is where people prefer to be in most circumstances. So, I think that there is a great deal more that we can do to make the end of life much more dignified and happy.