The law on assisted dying could be changed within five years as Sir Keir Starmer promised he would not “prolong the agony” by holding a vote on assisted dying if Labour won the next election.
The Labour leader said there would need to be “safeguards with teeth” if the law was changed to legalise assisted dying. But he said he was personally supportive of changing the law, which polling has recently shown support for in every constituency.
Starmer made the commitment in a phone call with Dame Esther Rantzen, who has stage four cancer and previously revealed she had joined the Dignitas assisted dying clinic in Switzerland.
Dignitas determines that those who wish to commit suicide must have sound judgment, be themselves able to bring about death, and submit a formal request
The Childline founder and broadcaster, 83, has urged politicians to grapple with the issue for the first time