Esther Rantzen's hopes for her legacy as Starmer commits to assisted dying debate
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Dame Esther Rantzen has shared her hopes for the legacy she will leave behind after Sir Keir Starmer committed to a debate on assisted dying laws.
The Prime Minister has repeated his commitment to Rantzen, who has terminal lung cancer, and a parliamentary debate is expected to take place before Christmas.
Broadcaster and ChildLine founder Rantzen told Lorraine that she wanted to avoid her family's happy memories of her being "overwhelmed" by seeing her dying in pain.
What, how, and why?
Esther Rantzen has spent her life campaigning for social change, and although she is now living with terminal lung cancer, she is still working hard to push for a change in assisted dying laws.
Since revealing her cancer diagnosis in 2023, Rantzen has been open about her plans to visit assisted dying clinic Dignitas in Switzerland when she feels the time is right - but has been campaigning for a change to laws that make assisted dying illegal in England, including travelling with someone to Dignitas which is a non-profit organisation which provides physician-assisted dying.
Rantzen does not do in-person interviews any more but she spoke to Lorraine's Dr Hilary Jones over the phone to say how pleased she was that Starmer was going ahead with the debate.
She said: "I'm very, very impressed that given all the challenges, national and international, he remembers the conversation we had before the election in which he made it clear that this is something he does feel very strongly about.
"Being a lawyer himself, I think he thinks it's important that laws should be just and fair and clear, which this one is not."
Rantzen added: "Palliative care is wonderful but it isn't always effective and I know as does anyone who's been in this situation that memories of someone you love dying in pain can sometimes overwhelm the happy memories that you'd had during their lifetime. I absolutely don't want that to happen to my family, I want them to remember the fun we've had, not any terminal pain I might be in.
"The effect of the current law is that I do have to go to Switzerland and Dignitas they won't be able to come with me because I would risk them being investigated by the police for having supported me, which is all wrong."
Asked what she hoped her legacy would be, Rantzen said: "Even if it doesn't happen in my time, I do hope that other people in my situation will be given the choice. That's all I ask, to shorten their death if that's what they want."
The broadcaster added that she was feeling better than expected, saying: "I'm much better than I thought I would be because I've got one of these amazing new drugs which seems to be holding the cancer at bay to my surprise."
What else has Esther Rantzen said about assisted dying?
Rantzen and her daughter Rebecca have spoken out many times about why they feel so strongly on assisted dying, and in April the broadcaster shared that she had received offers from kind strangers in Zurich to be with her at Dignitas if her family couldn't.
She told Good Morning Britain: "As you know, signed up with Dignitas. But it does mean if I go to Switzerland that my family can't come with me for fear of being interrogated by the police, which is not what you want your family to go through."
Presenter Susanna Reid asked her whether she would consider making the journey on her own. Rantzen revealed the kindness of strangers and how she wouldn't be on her own.
She said: "Among the wonderful messages of support there are people who say they'd go with me or people who live in Zurich and would meet me off the plane, so I don't know. It's really a decision for my family to make. They might say, 'The hell with it. We're going with you.' I mean, this whole thing is really to try and save them from a terrible memory."
She added: "If I knew that was going to be difficult for my family to witness, I would want to be able to ask for help."
Lorraine airs on ITV1 at 9am on weekdays.
Read more: Esther Rantzen
Keir Starmer repeats commitment to Esther Rantzen on assisted dying vote (PA Media, 3 min read)
Dame Esther Rantzen says she has joined Dignitas and that dogs have kinder deaths than people (The Independent, 4 min read)
Dame Esther Rantzen reveals lung cancer diagnosis has moved to stage four (PA Media, 2 min read)
This article originally appeared on Yahoo TV UK at https://uk.news.yahoo.com/esther-rantzen-legacy-keir-starmer-assisted-dying-debate-102350009.html
