Dame Esther Rantzen says she is too ill with lung cancer to attend Westminster debate on assisted dying [Video]

VETERAN broadcaster Dame Esther Rantzen says she is too ill with stage four lung cancer to attend a Westminster debate on assisted dying.

The 83-year-old Childline founder had been hoping to be at the event next Monday but said “health issues prevent me from attending it”.

She has been considering travelling to Dignitas, in Switzerland, for an assisted death, but said: “The current law means my family could be prosecuted if I go.”

She went on: “This is not right and as it is my life, I, like the majority of the public, believe it should be my choice.”

But she said she will be “watching the debate closely as it affects my own decision to go to Dignitas if necessary”.

MPs will debate the issue for the first time in almost two years after a petition secured more …