'I NEVER THOUGHT I'D BE ALIVE TO SEE THE LAW CHANGE, BUT PERHAPS I WILL'

ESTHER Rantzen hopes that assisted dying will now be legalised in her lifetime after an MP pledged to introduce a Bill in the Commons.

- Hanna Geissler

A free vote on the reform is now almost certain possibly as soon as next month.

Kim Leadbeater MP is taking up the fight after she was drawn first in the Private Members' Bill ballot, which gives her the best possible chance of securing time for a thorough debate. Campaigner Dame Esther, 84, who has stage four lung cancer, said: "This is such a crucial step forward.

"I never thought I'd be alive to see the law change, but perhaps I will. I can hardly believe it.

"Certainly if the debate and the free vote in the Commons actually changes the current cruel law, many, many terminally ill patients and their families will be incredibly grateful to Kim and all those who have made it possible."

The broadcasting legend praised the Spen Valley Labour MP as "an extraordinarily brave and compassionate person, taking on this deeply sensitive issue".

The Daily Express crusade Give Us Our Last Rights has been fighting since early 2022 for assisted dying to be legalised. Dame Esther became a leading voice in the campaign after revealing her terminal diagnosis and her registration with a Swiss assisted suicide clinic.

The Childline founder added she was "thrilled and grateful" at news of the Bill, which could mean "terminally ill people like me can look forward with hope and confidence that we could have a good death".

She said: "Even if it is too late for me, I know thousands of terminally ill patients and their families will be given new hope.

"All we ask is to be given the choice over our own lives."