Terminally ill man says law has failed him as he must travel abroad to die

A TERMINALLY ill man who plans to travel to Switzerland to end his life before the year is out says legislators have so far “failed” people on assisted dying laws.

David Peace, who was diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND) in 2019, can no longer speak or swallow, receives nutrition through a tube into his stomach, and fears choking to death every day.

The 73-year-old, from Westminster, said he is not suicidal but is reluctantly choosing to end his life prematurely so he is spared “intolerable” suffering in future.

The current law means he needs to travel abroad before his disease progresses to the extent that he cannot manage the journey or administer the medication.

He hopes to travel to Dignitas in Switzerland in the next two months.

Mr Peace, who communicates by text to voice software on his ipad, was interviewed by email.

He said: “Reluctantly I’m being propelled to bring forward my death by the relentless attacks on my body, with no hope of relief or cure, and no legal or dignified remedy in Britain other than continual suffering with more and more pills, opiates and sedation, tubes into the throat and other intervention.”

He added: “If the law in the UK was different, my life would be longer and my end of life would not entail the hassle and difficulty of international travel at the most vulnerable point in my life.”

Assisted suicide is currently banned in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, with a maximum prison sentence of 14 years.

A Private Member’s Bill, which would allow terminally ill adults to legally seek assistance to end their lives, will have its second reading in Parliament next week.

If passed, the Bill would enable adults who are of sound mind and have six months or less to live to be provided with life-ending medication with the approval of two doctors and a High Court judge. A public consultation on a similar Bill was launched in Scotland last month.

MPS voted against an assisted dying Bill in 2015, with 330 against and 118 for the proposals.

Mr Peace said the legislation is needed to “rectify the dire lack of choice and control” for people with terminal illnesses, and it would offer them “a true choice, not an obligation, with proper safeguards to protect against coercion or depression”.