It’s a matter of life and death...
THE Great British Bake Off judge Dame Prue Leith is off on a road trip with her son, Conservative MP Danny Kruger.
But this is no sunshine jaunt. The subject matter is heavier than the most leaden rock cake she’ll come across in the tent.
For the pair’s film is tackling the subject of euthanasia, and whether it should be legalised in Britain.
Prue, 82, has been campaigning for legalisation for 12 years, having watched her brother David face a slow and painful death.
“I would rather die like most dogs die. With a lethal injection, out in seconds, than suffer for months, years, in agony,” admits Prue.
Her son Danny is the chair of Dying Well, an all-party parliamentary group against assisted suicide.
They start their trip in Seattle, where doctors can prescribe the necessary drugs if you have less than six months to live. There, they meet a woman whose sick parents died together at home, surrounded by family, after a celebration of their lives.
Then in Vancouver they watch as a Parkinson’s sufferer is denied assisted suicide, for now at least. Throughout their journey, the pair discuss their opposing views.
“There’s no doubt in my mind how vulnerable the mentally ill, disabled and disadvantaged can be, when assisted dying is so readily available,” argues Danny.
As their week-long trip draws to an end, Prue and Danny understand each other’s viewpoints more, and their experiences leave Prue philosophical. “I think everybody should think a bit about death,” she says. “Even if it’s just to make them appreciate life.”