Sir Keir Starmer ‘makes good’ on promise for assisted dying debate

By Owen Scott

Prime Minister Keir Starmer's promise to Dame Esther Rantzen of an assisted dying debate in parliament will finally be fulfilled this month.

Listen to this article

Loading audio...

Keir Starmer said that he is "very pleased to be able to make good" on the promise he made to the TV presenter and Childline founder.

The promised debate on the assisted-dying bill is expected to begin on October 16 and will lead to a free vote that Starmer says the government will be "neutral" on.

The Prime Minister has previously said that he is "personally committed" to changing the laws on assisted dying, which completely ban the practice in the UK.

Dame Esther Rantzen joins Nick Ferrari

Dame Esther, who has been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, previously revealed that she had intended to go to Dignitas in Switzerland with her family in order to die.

However, UK law states that families of those who travel to the Swiss assisted-dying organisation could face criminal charges on their return.

The bill, which will affect law in England and Wales, has been controversial since it was first put forward by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater.

Conservative leadership candidate Tom Tugendhat told LBC that he was concerned assisted dying could be used as a "cost-saving measure" by the NHS.

He said: "We've seen in Canada, in Belgium, in the Netherlands that these assisted dying laws have sometimes led people, who, frankly, should be being cared for, to be seen as somehow a burden on society.

"And I will absolutely never say that anyone is a burden on society. I don't see that assisted dying is an alternative to good palliative care, and when you look at what the hospice movement does, it is a fantastically important section of our care provision, and that's where we need to be making investment. That's where we need to be putting focus."

Watch Again: Kim Leadbeater joins Andrew Marr to discuss assisted dying

A bill on assisted dying was last debated in the House of Commons in 2015, where it was defeated.

Ms Leadbeater has said that MPs not voting for this new bill would "leave too many people as they come to the end of their life continuing to suffer in often unbearable pain and fear of what is to come, denied the choice they deserve."

The Labour MP added that the bill will not "undermine calls for improvements to palliative care" or clash with the right of those who have disabilities to be "treated equally".