KEIR’S VOW ON VOTE TO ESTHER
He backs assisted dying law
KEIR Starmer has told Dame Esther Rantzen he wants to change the law on assisted dying if he becomes Prime Minister.
The Labour leader has committed to holding a free vote in Parliament within five years.
Speaking to TV legend Dame Esther, 83, in a phone call filmed by ITV News, the Labour leader told her: “I’m personally in favour of changing the law.
“I think we need to make time. We will make the commitment.
“Esther, I can give you that commitment right now.”
When pressed on whether he would like a vote to take place in the next Parliament, Mr Starmer replied: “Oh yes, definitely. I think Esther would agree with this.
“For people who are going through this or are likely to go through it in the next few months or years, this matters hugely and delay just prolongs the agony.”
Dame Esther sparked a national conversation on the issue when she revealed she had stage 4 lung cancer last year. She has previously said she is considering going to the Swiss assisted-dying clinic Dignitas.
More than 500 UK citizens ended their lives there between 1998 and 2022, around 15% of all deaths registered at the clinic.
MPs last voted on the issue almost a decade ago but the bid to allow doctors to help terminally ill people end their lives was defeated.
A poll for the Mirror earlier this year found 71% of the UK support assisted dying being made legal. A separate survey by ITV published today shows 75% do so now.
Mr Starmer also told the broadcaster it was possible to introduce safeguards to protect vulnerable people.
He added: “When I consulted on this [as Director of Public Prosecutions], the churches and faith groups and others were very, very powerful in the arguments they made.
“We have to respect that and find the right balance in the end.”
Groups such as Care Not Killing argue changing the law could place pressure on the ill to end their lives for fear of being a financial or emotional burden.
Chief executive Dr Gordon Macdonald said last night: “It would represent a dramatic change in how doctors and nurses treat and care for people and put the lives of the vulnerable, terminally ill and disabled at risk. These dangers are particularly acute when one in every four people who would benefit from palliative can’t access it.”
A No10 spokeswoman said Rishi Sunak “has been moved by some of the experiences that have been shared by people and families in this situation”, adding it would be up to Parliament to decide on a vote.