'Dying people should not be forced to work out an escape plan'

DAME Esther Rantzen's daughter Rebecca Wilcox has told MPs the terminally ill should not have to "work out escape plans".

- Hanna Geissler

She made an impassioned speech as she took her mother's fight to the heart of Parliament at an event hosted last night by Dignity in Dying.

It came as voters in every constituency demanded the legalisation of assisted dying.

The findings were in the largest-ever poll on the issue. An overwhelming 75% of 10,000 surveyed supported a change in the law for terminally ill people nearing the end of their lives. Just 14% opposed it.

Torture

The landmark findings were released as Ms Wilcox, 44, told MPs and campaigners at the Commons: "If my mum wants to choose a good death in a place like Dignitas, she has to pay thousands of pounds for it. She has to die before her health would necessitate. She has to die alone, or risk her loved ones facing prosecution.

"What sort of end is that for anyone? And yet it is preferable to the long, drawn out, painful death that might be her only other option if she stays at home."