Dying peer's 'ecstasy' in his final months

The Labour peer and strategist Philip Gould described how he experienced moments of “private ecstasy” in the months before he died, a new film has revealed.

Lord Gould, a former adviser to Tony Blair, shared his feelings about his impending death from oesophageal cancer in November 2011. Referring to his wife Gail and daughters Grace and Georgia, he said: “I love them all.”

His final weeks were documented in an eight-minute film that was released via the video-sharing website Youtube before the release of his book, When I Die: Lessons from the Death Zone. All proceeds from the book will go to the National Oesophago-gastric Cancer Fund and the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.