9,000 back Esther's call for a free vote on assisted dying

THE Daily Express petition calling for a parliamentary debate and free vote on assisted dying backed by Dame Esther Rantzen collected over 9,000 signatures within hours of going live yesterday.

- Emily Braeger

The appeal by this newspaper and campaign group Dignity in Dying calls for rights that would allow the terminally ill and seriously sick to choose how and when to die under our Give Us Our Last Rights crusade.

I’m A Celebrity star Nicola McLean, 42, expressed her support for the cause yesterday, saying she has signed the petition and is asking for others to do so.

Comfort

It was in the jungle in 2008 that she met Dame Esther, 83, who set up the charity Childline to protect children in 1986 and The Silver Line to comfort lonely older people in 2013.