Dame Esther Rantzen has praised Labour MP Kim Leadbeater as “an extraordinary person” after she introduced an assisted dying bill to Parliament.
Broadcaster and campaigner Dame Rantzen saidshe believes Spen Valley MP Leadbeater is “an extraordinary person” after she introduced the assisted dying bill to Parliament earlier this month. “She’s so impressive,” Dame Rantzen said.” She’s entirely motivated by the desire to make a positive difference for people.”
Dame Rantzen, who was previously diagnosed with stage four lung cancer in January 2023, previously revealed she has planned to travel to Switzerland to undergo assisted dying. The country is one of the few in the world where regulated assisted dying is legal.
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“She’s entirely motivated by the desire to make a positive difference for people, her sister having been murdered in the most appalling circumstances, which is why she took on the role,” she said when asked on Leadbeater’s bill. She told LBC presenter Andrew Marr: “So, I admire her a lot. They always say, don’t they, that politics is the art of the possible.”
Leadbeater’s bill on Choice at the End of Life will have its second reading in Parliament on Friday November 29, the first opportunity. It will be the first time that MPs have debated the subject in Parliament since 2015.
When asked if she would travel to Dignitas, an organisation that organises assisted dying, Rantzen said: “Yes, absolutely. I mean, I don’t assume that I will be around long enough for the law to change.
“Obviously, like everybody, I would like to die with an opportunity to say goodbye to the people who are closest to me, friends and family in my own home. That would be amazing.
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“I have never thought that was possible, actually, because of the criminal law here, and I didn’t think that I’d be around in time to see any change in the law. But if that were to happen that would be amazing. In the meantime, as you say, I plan to go to Switzerland if I have to.”
But Dame Esther said “life is still very much worth living at the movement” now she is on a new targeted drug. She continued: “Although I have to say that I didn’t plan any of this, you know, I mean, people say in some indignation, why should anyone pay any attention to what Esther Rantzen thinks and I agree with them, you know, there are many more important people around than me for heaven’s sake.”
Assisted dying campaigners have welcomed Leadbeater’s bill being introduced in Parliament and believe it represents an opportunity to give dying people a choice about their final moments. Anti-assisted dying advocates argue the bill would represent a slippery slope and heap pressure on people to end their lives to stop being a burden to their families.