Dame Esther expressed her gratitude on behalf of all those seeking ‘a pain-free death with dignity’ (Image: PA)
Dame Esther Rantzen says her “impossible dream” of seeing assisted dying debated in the Commons may now come true, after Sir Keir Starmer renewed his vow to make time for it.
The veteran broadcaster, 84, has fought tirelessly for MPs to hold a full debate and free vote since revealing her terminal lung cancer diagnosis last year.
Asked whether he could reassure her that a vote will take place before Christmas, the Prime Minister would not be drawn on the timeline.
But he said on Monday: “I gave her my word that we would make time for this with a Private Members’ Bill and I repeat that commitment. I made it to her personally and I meant it, and we will.”
Sir Keir was referring to a March phone call with Dame Esther, during which he promised to allow time for assisted dying to be considered by Parliament if he was elected.
READ MORE: Dame Esther handed hope as Citizens’ Jury backs law change on assisted dying
Demonstrators, including Humanists UK’s members and supporters, during a protest outside the Houses (Image: A three-hour Westminster Hall debate took place in April)
She said of his latest comments: “This is wonderful news. I am so grateful, given all the other challenges he is facing, that he remembers our conversation and his promise to me. He told me he hoped I would be alive to hear a proper debate in Parliament.
“At the time I thought that was an impossible dream, but thanks to a new targeted drug which seems to have stopped the spread of my lung cancer, and thanks to Sir Keir’s commitment and the support of so many people around me, it may come true.
“Thank you, Sir Keir, on behalf of all the people who, like me, would like to be able to look forward to a pain-free death with dignity, surrounded by the people we love.”
The breakthrough came after Dame Esther last week issued a plea for Sir Keir to remember his promise.
During an interview with Sky News, she said: “I just want to remind him gently, nothing bossy, just quietly: ‘Dear Sir Keir, whom I have met and worked with, could you possibly recall your kind words to me and make it come true?'”
Reports at the weekend suggested the Prime Minister was privately supporting efforts to bring about a vote in the Commons before Christmas.
Labour MP Jake Richards indicated he hoped to introduce a Bill after being drawn 11th out of 20 in the recent Private Members’ Bill ballot. But his position means it would not be guaranteed sufficient time for consideration.
The Mail on Sunday said it had been “made clear to the MPs at the top of the ballot that the PM backs a change in the law” and that one MP drawn higher up claimed to have been offered extra staff if he drafted a Bill on assisted dying.
Asked about the possibility of a vote before Christmas, Sir Keir told reporters: “It looks like, after the draw, a Bill may come forward now and that means we won’t block it in a sense of talking it out or some of the other manoeuvres that are sometimes used.
“I gave my word as to what we would do and I’ll stick to it. It’ll be a free vote but I repeat the commitment I made to Esther Rantzen on this.”
The House of Commons last debated assisted dying in September 2015, when MPs rejected an Assisted Dying Bill by 330 votes to 118.
Sir Keir, who had recently been elected as MP for Holborn and St Pancras, voted in favour of that Bill.
Asked whether he supported the idea of legalising assisted dying, the PM said on Monday: “I will look at the legislation first.
“In principle, I think there’s a case to be made for changing the law but I wouldn’t go as far as to say…I want to look at exactly what the safeguards are because that’s really important within it.”
The Daily Express Give Us Our Last Rights crusade has for more than two years amplified the voices of terminally ill people and others affected by the blanket ban on assisted dying.
A petition launched by this newspaper quickly gathered more than 200,000 signatures and triggered a three-hour Westminster Hall debate in April.
Independent polls have repeatedly shown that the majority of the public support legalising assisted dying for terminally ill people, with strict eligibility criteria and safeguards.
And a Citizen’s Jury convened by the Nuffield Council on Bioethics voted 71 percent in favour. Jurors were carefully selected to represent the views and background of the general population.
Sarah Wootton, chief executive of campaign group Dignity in Dying, has been on the front line of efforts to change the law in the UK for 17 years.
Writing for the Express, she paid tribute to Dame Esther for helping to reignite this crucial national debate.
She says: “The time has come to at last reform a status quo that is cruel, unsafe and unfair, and introduce an assisted dying law.”
Time for a full and fair debate in Parliament is critical, says SARAH WOOTTON
The Prime Minister could not be clearer that he will honour his promise to Dame Esther Rantzen – and the British people – to make time for an assisted dying bill to be fully and fairly debated, with a free vote.
With real appetite from MPs across the political spectrum to grip this issue and deliver an assisted dying law for this country, it’s critical that a private member’s bill gets the time, attention and scrutiny it needs in parliament.
A lifelong campaigner, Dame Esther Rantzen has spent this precious time in her life fighting for change for all dying people.
We owe it to them to get this right and begin a robust, evidence-based process of debate as soon as possible.
That process has already begun in Scotland, Jersey and the Isle of Man, and Westminster’s own Health and Social Care Select Committee conducted an in-depth inquiry into assisted dying which concluded that laws for terminally ill people remain limited over time and often result in improvements to end-of-life care.
Without reform, dying people suffer despite excellent care, with hundreds every year taking matters into their own hands and Dignitas only an option for a privileged few.
Safety is woven into the fabric of proposals for law change, introducing practical measures to assess eligibility, ensure rigorous medical oversight, and robustly monitor every part of the process
The time has come to at last reform a status quo that is cruel, unsafe and unfair, and introduce an assisted dying law that gives choice to those of us who want it as we die, and greater protections for us all
– Sarah Wootton is chief executive of Dignity in Dying