My Lords, as someone who remains a Bishop, on behalf of my old friends on the other side of the Chamber, I would like to support this amendment. As the Bishop of Oxford, I remember visiting one of the brand new universities, which thought of itself in very secular terms. Nevertheless, the university was adamant that it should have a chaplain because it believed in whole-person care, and an essential element of whole-person care was the spiritual dimension. We need to take that into account.
We also need to take into account the fact that we now live in a multifaith society, and for those of some religions in particular, it is very important that they
have someone with religious authority in contact with them in the final stages of their life. There are good reasons for supporting this amendment.