Dame Esther Rantzen blasts MPs sitting on fence over assisted dying as thousands suffer

Dame Esther Rantzen is demanding MPs get off the fence on assisted dying after a major inquiry failed to recommend urgent action.

The lifelong campaigner said she was “disappointed and disheartened” that the Commons Health and Social Care Committee did not call for a debate despite hearing compelling evidence of the need for change.

Dame Esther, 83, said last night: “I am very disheartened indeed there is no recommendation that there is an urgent need for the current law to be changed, because it puts loving families at risk, and that therefore there must be a debate in Parliament, followed by a free vote as soon as possible.

“It’s as if, because this is an emotional subject, they are frightened to recommend Parliament should talk about it.”

Grandmother-of-five Dame Esther is spearheading the UK campaign to legalise assisted dying after being diagnosed with stage four lung cancer in January last year.

READ MORE: ‘I asked Rishi to change the law on assisted dying – his answer gave me hope’

A Daily Express petition, backed by the Childline founder and campaign group Dignity in Dying, has gathered more than 130,000 signatures in a clear display of overwhelming public support.

The inquiry was conducted by 11 cross-party MPs. It received more than 68,000 public responses and almost 400 written submissions after launching in December 2022.

Among them was a powerful account from cancer patient David Minns, who launched the Daily Express Give Us Our Last Rights crusade two years ago.

A report on the year-long examination published today, noted that independent polls have shown up to 80 percent of people are in favour of permitting assisted dying.

It described how medicine cannot relieve all pain and the current law is unclear, leaving terminally ill people and their families in turmoil.

And it concluded that legislation was likely to be passed in at least one part of the UK or Crown Dependencies “in the near future” – effectively creating a postcode lottery for access to a dignified death.

Despite all this, the committee declined to take a position on whether the law should be changed, instead presenting a “balanced overview” of all the evidence.

Dame Esther last night issued a renewed rallying cry for “people power” to force change.

She said: “It means that our petition is vital and now we have well over 130,000 signatures, we must keep up the pressure, urge politicians to give us the debate we need, and that we all must make sure every party includes this as a priority in their manifestos. Once again, people power will be crucial.”

Some committee members travelled to Oregon – the first US state to introduce assisted dying – last year, as well as hearing evidence from other jurisdictions.

The inquiry found no evidence that changing the law would be detrimental to palliative care services, something Dame Esther said was “one very positive conclusion”.

She added: “The committee says that in the other countries which have already legalised assisted dying, the evidence shows that palliative care has in fact improved.

“Care has not deteriorated as some opponents have falsely claimed. Which is important evidence.”

MPs also rejected the common suggestion that allowing assisted dying for terminally ill people would lead to a slippery slope and wider eligibility.

Among the arguments against assisted dying, the report found there was “hesitation around whether it is possible to accurately assess capacity, and safeguard the person, in every case”.

But it also noted the counter-argument that the same risks already exist for people who opt to cease treatment or start end of life care.

Access to palliative and end of life care is “patchy”, it was said, and the Government must ensure universal coverage, including hospice care at home.

The committee called for an uplift of funding to support hospices needing financial help, and described a “pressing need” for better mental health support for terminally ill people.

However, it also acknowledged that “there is not currently a medical intervention available to manage every symptom or pain”.

Trevor Moore, chair of My Death, My Decision, said the findings “should lay the foundations for a compassionate assisted dying law”.

He added: “The report is clear that individuals in the UK are suffering unnecessarily and that the present law is a shambles.

“Doing nothing is no longer an option. Adults who are suffering intolerably from incurable conditions deserve the right to make their own end-of-life decisions.

“While it is disappointing that the report didn’t go further to directly recommend change, nothing in this report should block Parliament from acting.

“So we urge the next parliament to act on this urgently, drawing on the experience of the 31 jurisdictions that have already done so.”

The Health and Social Care Committee said the report was not intended to provide a resolution to the debate but instead presented a broad body of evidence as a “significant and useful resource” for future discussion.

The group’s chairman, Tory MP Steve Brine, said: “The inquiry on assisted dying and assisted suicide raised the most complex issues that we as a committee have faced, with strong feelings and opinions in the evidence we heard.

“We intend the information and testimony we present in our report today to have a lasting legacy and, as we set out in the initial terms of reference, be a significant and useful resource for future debates on the issue. That could still be during this Parliament of course or after the next General Election.

“We’re particularly grateful to those who shared very difficult personal stories. The accounts were enormously helpful to us as we considered the issues involved and I’d like to put my thanks on record.”