Dame Esther Rantzen pleads with PM to legalise assisted dying

Dame Esther Rantzen has made a direct plea to the Prime Minister to keep his promise to make time for Parliament to debate and vote freely on assisted dying after a public panel backed the change in law.

Dame Esther had a phone call with Sir Keir Starmer earlier this year, before the Labour leader became PM, in which he vowed his commitment on the issue.

She labelled the current law as ‘cruel’ as warned that that without a change, her and others could face a ‘bad death’.

The broadcaster’s latest comments come as a majority of members in a public panel backed assisted suicide, a so-called citizens’ jury.

The 84-year-old Childline founder has previously been praised for her role in bringing the sensitive conversation on to public discourse.

She revealed in December that she has joined the Swiss Dignas clinic as she lives with terminal cancer.  

Dame Esther said that without a change in the law, her and others who are terminally ill could face a ‘bad death’ or their families could have to endure police questioning and possible prosecution if they accompanied her to the clinic.

Assisting someone to end their life is currently a criminal offence in England and Wales.

Speaking to Sky News, Dame Esther said: ‘What we’re hoping for is proper time to discuss the issues, have the free vote and change this cruel law.

‘I call it cruel, because not only at the moment does it mean that I’ve got to have a bad death, if that’s what the cancer creates for me, but my family can’t be with me if I decide to go to Dignitas. 

‘Because otherwise they are liable to being accused of killing me and they get investigated by the police, so that’s just messy and wrong and not what we want.

‘So, please Sir Keir, remember our conversation and let’s make time for this. It really is a matter of life and death.’

Dame Esther said she was ‘quietly’ and ‘just gently’ reminding Sir Keir.

She added: ‘Dear Sir Keir, whom I’ve met and have worked with, could you possibly recall your kind words to me and make it come true?’

She welcomed the verdict of the so-called citizens’ jury and branded the current law as a ‘cruel mess’

She said that while the results of the jury ‘didn’t surprise’ her, she highlighted it was important to keep the issue ‘at the top of the agenda’ because ‘events happen, politicians forget, they take other things as their priority’.

The Prime Minister has previously said he is ‘personally in favour of changing the law’ and supported a change the last time the issue was voted on in the Commons nine years ago.

Earlier this month, Labour’s Jake Richards signalled his intention to bring forward a proposed law by private member’s Bill after he secured one of the top 20 spots to introduce a proposal to the Commons.

Former Labour justice secretary Lord Falconer of Thoroton has introduced the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults Bill in the House of Lords, which is expected to be the subject of a debate in mid-November.

The director of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, which put the so-called ‘citizens’ jury’ together, said the panel’s decision provides ‘the missing piece of evidence’ in the debate.

A final vote was cast by 28 jury members, with 20 agreeing that the law should change after eight weeks of deliberation.

Among the top reasons for support was stopping pain and giving people dignity, although it was stressed that anyone using an assisted dying service should be terminally ill and have the capacity to make the decision to end their life.

Members of the panel were handed information on assisted dying which included written material, as well as videos and presentations. 

Seven of them disagreed with any potential law change and one person being undecided. 

Those who voted in favour said assisted dying should be carried out to stop pain, as well as giving people a decision to end their life and the knowledge they can have a dignified death.

They also said it would allow people to avoid prosecution for helping a loved one to die.

Those against warned that it could be used for the wrong reasons, misinterpreted, misused, and could result in less funding for palliative care.

The council’s director Danielle Hamm told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘This is the missing piece of evidence and it’s the missing piece because it provides that really deep nuance around people’s judgments and why people have reached that decision, and it gives policymakers the information they need to really fully understand where the British public’s attitudes lies’

In April, campaigners and celebrities gathered in Westminster show their support for an assisted dying law, after a petition gained more than 200,000 signatures and was promoted by Dame Esther who has stage four lung cancer 

A Government spokesperson said: ‘Successive governments have taken the view that any change to the law in this sensitive area is a matter for Parliament to decide.

‘This Government has made clear that time will be provided for a proper debate and vote on any legislation brought forward.’

Catherine Robinson, spokesperson for Right To Life UK, said ‘citizens’ juries do not always represent the views of the public as a whole’ and called instead for Parliament to focus on improving access to ‘high-quality palliative care’.