Streeting: Time has come for assisted dying debate

AN Assisted Dying Bill has officially been introduced in the House of Lords as the Health Secretary said it is "a debate whose time has come".

The prospect of legalising assisted death has increasingly been in the spotlight in the past year, with moves being made elsewhere in the British Isles, and the revelation from cancer-stricken TV star Dame Esther Rantzen that she has joined Dignitas.

The broadcaster and Childline founder said she had "caught a glimpse of hope" with this fresh bid to change the law being laid before Parliament.

The title of former Labour justice secretary Lord Falconer of Thoroton's private member's bill Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults Bill - was read out at the start of business in the House of Lords on Friday, and is expected to be first debated at a later date.

It is also possible a private member's bill on assisted dying could be chosen for debate in the Commons, when a ballot takes place in September. Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the time for debate on the divisive issue has come, but admitted he is "uncharacteristically undecided" on the topic.