Esther Rantzen 'doesn't have enough time' says her daughter
On Good Morning Britain, Dame Esther Rantzen's daughter Rebecca Wilcox revealed that the Scottish Assisted Dying Bill will be of no use to her mother as "she doesn't have enough time" to meet the criteria. The bill will require those wishing to avail of it to be resident in Scotland for a year beforehad.
Speaking to Susanna Reid and Richard Madeley, Rebecca commended Scotland for the bill. "I think Scotland you are amazing. you make all the right decisions," she said. "The caveat that breaks my heart is that you have to live for a year in order to save up this legislation and be able to choose the way you want to die.
"Who knows how long Mum has left, but she doesn't have enough time and the wherewithal to move to Scotland to be there for a year," she pondered. Plus, this bill probably won't go through till next year.
"So again, everybody that I'm meeting in the dignity and dying campaign, they are so brave. They are so brilliant at telling their story. And yet none of this is going to help them right now," she said.
Reflect on the fact that England was nowhere near implementing a similar bill she said: "I don't understand why Scotland is so far ahead of England. It makes me really sad that my country cannot see that this is the right approach it has to protect the vulnerable people.
"It doesn't allow for the type of euthanasia that people would worry about.
"It is assisted dying, assisted suicide for people with a terminal diagnosis who have been found sound of mind by two separate doctors.
"It's really just doesn't make any sense not to say yes to it!" she exclaimed.
She then went on to address the subject of "death tourism" whereby people travel to another country just to take advantae of their assisted dying bill.
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"Death tourism is a thing," she said matter of factly. I mean that's why mum's joined Dignitas.
"And actually outsourcing our assisted dying to other countries is, to be really grim, is losing the UK money if they wanted to do make an economy from it," she opined.
"So I think death tourism it's not for me, it's not something I agree with, but it suits a lot of people," she reflected.
Good Morning Britain is on ITV weekdays at 6am.
