Dame Esther Rantzen, who is suffering from stage four cancer, considers option of assisted dying and says MPs should have free vote on issue

The 83-year-old Childline founder and broadcaster, who revealed in May that her cancer had progressed to stage four, has joined Swiss organisations Dignitas.

In an interview with BBC’s ‘The Today Podcast’, she called for a free vote on assisted dying as she feels it is “important that the law catches up with what the country wants”.

Speaking to Nick Robinson and Amol Rajan, she said her next scan in a few weeks’ time will tell her “whether the miracle drug is performing its miracle or whether it’s given up”.

She added: “I have joined Dignitas. I have in my brain thought, well, if the next scan says nothing’s working I might buzz off to Zurich – but it puts my family and friends in a difficult position because they would want to go with me.

“And that means that the police might prosecute them. So we’ve got to do something. At the moment, it’s not really working, is it?”

Assisted suicide is banned in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, with a maximum prison sentence of 14 years.

The Health and Social Care Committee is due to publish its report into assisted dying and assisted suicide in England and Wales, having launched an inquiry in December 2022 to examine different perspectives in the debate.

Asked what she would do if she was made prime minister for the week, Dame Esther said: “I would get them to do a free vote on assisted dying.

“I think it’s important that the law catches up with what the country wants.”

She said that her family has said it is her decision to make, adding: “I explained to them that actually I don’t want their last memories of me to be painful because if you watch someone you love having a bad death, that memory obliterates all the happy times and I don’t want that to happen.

“I don’t want to be that sort of victim in their lives.”

Dame Esther said she was unsure if she would see her last birthday on June 22, so it has been “very unexpected” that she has made it to the Christmas period.

She added: “Anything can happen, I live in a forest, a tree can fall on me.

“I’ve got to drop off my perch for some reason, and I’m 83 damn it, so I should be jolly grateful and indeed am.”