Dame Esther Rantzen says she is too ill with lung cancer to attend Westminster debate on assisted dying

VETERAN broadcaster Dame Esther Rantzen says she is too ill with stage four lung cancer to attend a Westminster debate on assisted dying.

The 83-year-old Childline founder had been hoping to be at the event next Monday but said “health issues prevent me from attending it”.

Anna Batchelor

She has been considering travelling to Dignitas, in Switzerland, for an assisted death, but said: “The current law means my family could be prosecuted if I go.”

She went on: “This is not right and as it is my life, I, like the majority of the public, believe it should be my choice.”

But she said she will be “watching the debate closely as it affects my own decision to go to Dignitas if necessary”.

MPs will debate the issue for the first time in almost two years after a petition secured more than 200,000 signatures.

It comes after legislation to introduce assisted dying for terminally ill people in Scotland was published last month at Holyrood, as the MSP behind it said there is “compelling evidence” to support the move.

Liam McArthur said he was “confident” the Scottish Parliament would back his legislation in a vote, adding “robust safeguards” are included in the Bill.

Opponents of the legislation fear the lives of people who are ill or disabled would be “devalued”, and the Bishop of Paisley, John Keenan called it a “dangerous idea”.

With Holyrood likely to vote on the proposals later this year, it will be the third time MSPs have considered the issue.

Two previous attempts to change the law were overwhelmingly defeated.

Assisted dying proposals in Jersey and the Isle of Man, to legalise the choice for residents, will be debated in the coming months.