Dame Esther Rantzen 'never thought she'd be here' as she issues heartbreaking plea

Dame Esther Rantzen spoke to the ITV breakfast show Good Morning Britain today ahead of the MPs' vote on the Assisted Dying bill.

Dame Esther Rantzen says she never thought she would be here as MPs debate the Assisted Dying bill today.

The journalist and television presenter is supporting the assisted dying bill, which will be discussed in the House of Commons later today, having joined Dignitas after a terminal lung cancer diagnosis.

Speaking on Good Morning Britain today, she told host Paul Brand: "What is happening at the moment is compelling people to have really agonising deaths.

"Someone in agony, with pain - no palliative care can ease - becomes a terribly terribly tragic memory. Overwhelms other happier memories. The law at the moment is a mess, and it's cruel. You'll remember that Sir Keir Starmer said to me that he hoped I would be able to see the debate, but I never thought that was possible."

The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is being discussed by members of Parliament today, which would allow some people to have a medically-assisted death. Under the bill, those who have been given a terminal diagnosis and are expected to die within six months could seek help to end their life, with two doctors and a High Court judge agreeing they were eligible.

Labour MP Kim Leadbeater is leading the bill, with Dame Esther having previously told the MP: "I would much rather be able to die in my own home surrounded by people who are close to me.

"But that choice won't be open to me because even if we get a 'yes' vote in this debate... you can't get through the next stage in under a year. And my miracle drug is working jolly hard, but I can't expect it to keep me alive for a year."

Dame Esther explained that with the current laws in the UK, she would be forced to travel to Switzerland alone. She said if her family went along with her, then they would be at risk of being prosecuted for assisting her death.

She had described the current laws as "terrible" and "cruel" and in an emotional statement earlier this year, she said she was living her "last Spring", explaining how her own death was "constantly in her mind".

"I’m watching the spring flowers come out, thinking: 'This is probably my last spring.' When I talk to my grandchildren when they come and visit me, I’m very aware these moments are precious.

"They may be the last memories they have of me," she said, "My own death is constantly in my mind. It would give me so much confidence if I could also know that however the illness progresses, whatever pain it causes, wherever it strikes me next, I will still have the choices of a pain free, dignified private death surrounded by the people I love."

*Good Morning Britain airs weekdays at 6am on ITV1 and ITVX.