DAME ESTHER: FIGHTING I AM FOR MY FAMILY AND A LOT OF OTHERS

Families dread having to watch loved ones beg to have their life end and not being able to help'

- Hanna Geissler

INDOMITABLE Dame Esther Rantzen says she is "fighting for my family and lots of others" as MPs hold a landmark debate on assisted dying today.

It was triggered by our 205,000name petition which backed her call for greater end-of-life choice. Dame Esther, 83, who has stage four lung cancer, said the Westminster Hall debate would "give everyone a chance to listen to and learn from each other".

She added: "It's a very complicated issue and everyone's case is a bit different. But at the moment there are families who dread having to watch someone they love begging to have their life ended and not being able to help them.

"It's dreadful. Those memories outlive happy ones, they act as a sort of barrier. I am fighting for my family and I believe I am probably fighting for a lot of other families." The Daily Express petition urged the Government to make time for the legalisation of assisted dying to be discussed and voted on in the House of Commons.

The Ministry of Justice will respond in today's debate, which is expected to last for around three hours. Dame Esther joined the campaign to change the law in December after revealing that she had registered with Swiss assisted dying group Dignitas.

She spoke about her fear that her loved ones would face a UK criminal investigation if they accompanied her to its clinic in Zurich.

The former That's Life presenter, who plans to watch today's debate at home, said: "I want people who disagree with it to come or to watch the debate so that they can hear all the arguments for and against.

"I hope they will take account of all the arguments and bear in mind that we want to offer them the choice, but we feel they should offer us the choice too.