Dame Esther welcomes former judge's 'clarity' on assisted dying laws

ACTIVIST Dame Esther Rantzen has welcomed fresh "clarity" on the issue of assisted dying from a retired top judge.

- Giles Sheldrick

Baroness Hale, former Supreme Court president, said she wished more politicians would accept the scandal "needs to be sorted"."

Amid promises of reform, death by choice remains illegal and carries a sentence of 14 years for those involved, despite pleas from thousands who are terminally ill and enduring intolerable suffering.

Baroness Hale, 79, said: "This isn't a totally straightforward question. There are nuances, there are all sorts of precise details that would need to be worked out.

"But I wish more politicians would say, 'This is hard, really hard but it needs to be looked at and it needs to be sorted, and we are going to work hard at getting the best result'. Why don't you say that?

"The hard questions are the really important questions. We have answered [many] in this country."