Furious Dame Esther Rantzen has accused Wes Streeting of forcing her to ‘fly to Dignitas to die alone’ after he revealed he would vote against legalising assisted dying.
In a scathing letter to the Health Secretary the ChildLine founder – who is battling stage four lung cancer – described being ‘deeply disappointed’ with Mr Streeting’s decision.
Since her diagnosis last year the 84-year-old has campaigned for euthanasia to be legalised and previously revealed she has registered with the Dignitas assisted dying clinic in Switzerland.
Dame Esther asked how Mr Streeting could support the current law which would mean in order to end her life on her own terms she has to travel oversees and away from her family.
Mr Streeting voted in favour of a 2015 Bill that aimed to allow terminally ill people who are nearing death to request medical assistance to die.
But he told backbench MPs on Monday that he will vote against a similar proposal when it reaches the Commons next month.
The Health Secretary said he had changed his mind because he was worried that palliative care is not good enough in this country, and this could lead to people ending their lives prematurely.
Writing in the letter – shown to the Express today – Dame Esther said the MP for Ilford North should know that even the best palliative care cannot always prevent suffering.
She questioned how he could be satisfied with the status quo, which is leaving families traumatised by bad deaths and denying people the option to shorten their pain.
Dame Esther also highlighted the views of four previous Directors of Public Prosecutions, including Sir Keir Starmer, who have spoken out about issues with the current law.
At the end of the message the veteran broadcaster ended asked Mr Streeting: ‘What kind of health Minister are you, if you have no respect or understanding for the views of terminally ill patients?’
The Government will remain neutral on Kim Leadbeater’s Private Member’s Bill when it faces a second reading on November 29, and MPs will be given a free vote.
Cabinet ministers have therefore been told not to take part in public debate.
Mr Streeting did not state his voting intentions publicly but made the comments in a private meeting which was leaked.
Dame Esther said she was ‘very distressed’ by the minister’s decision.
Speaking to a newspaper this week, the Health Secretary explained that he worried ‘about coercion and the risk that the right to die feels like a duty to die’.
He said: ‘I have in my mind’s eye one of my grandmothers who died a very slow painful death, an inevitable death, from lung cancer.
‘There are moments thinking back to that time through my 10-year-old eyes even then I would have wished for the pain to end sooner.
‘The challenge is, I do not think palliative care, end of life care, in this country is good enough to give people a real choice.’
Mr Streeting was the second cabinet minister in two days to reveal their intention to vote against changing the law, after Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood told of her ‘unshakeable belief in the sanctity and the value of human life’.
Sarah Wootton, chief executive of Dignity in Dying, warned that blocking law change on assisted dying ‘will not fix palliative care’.
Ms Wootton also highlighted that polling consistently find that roughly three quarters of the British public would support the legalisation of assisted dying for terminally ill people.
She added that she believes this is because many have seen the impact the current law can have ‘first hand’.
Ms Wooton added: ‘That is because they have seen – many firsthand – that the status quo does not work for terminally ill people and their families.
She also suggested the current legislation was outdated – being more than 60 years old – and that we need a law more suited to current times.
The introduction of the latest Private Member’s Bill by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater has sparked a fresh public debate about the controversial subject of assisted dying.
The Spen Valley MP has called for a ‘robust and compassionate’ debate about the topic when it reaches the Commons next month.
Opponents including the Archbishop of Canterbury have claimed that a change in the law could put vulnerable people at risk.
Ms Leadbeater sent a letter to the Archbishop last week to challenge his position, arguing that her Bill is about respecting how all individuals want to live and die’.
It comes as yesterday a bid for the Welsh parliament to support assisted dying was rejected in the Senedd.
The motion would have offered support in principle should Westminster implement ‘compassionate assisted dying’.
A cross-party motion submitted by Labour’s Julie Morgan calling for those who are “intolerably suffering” and have a clear wish to die to be able to be assisted by medical professionals was rejected on Wednesday evening.
The Senedd cannot change the law itself, with ultimate power resting at Westminster.
The motion would have offered support in principle should Westminster implement ‘compassionate assisted dying’.