Kim Leadbeater hails 'light at end of tunnel' for assisted dying campaigners

There is “light at the end of the tunnel” for heartbroken families who have fought to legalise assisted dying for years, Kim Leadbeater said on Wednesday.

The Labour MP is due to introduce a Private Member’s Bill next week which will seek to change the law.

She met with campaigners outside Parliament ahead of a drop-in event at Portcullis House where MPs were invited to hear the personal stories of those who have suffered under the current ban.

Ms Leadbeater told supporters: “Thank you for coming. This is a real moment in time, but this moment would not have come about without your strength and determination, for some of you over years and some over decades.

“This isn’t about politicians, it’s not about MPs. It’s about you, your stories.

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“I know that every time you tell your stories it takes more energy and more effort, and it can be very draining. So thank you for being prepared to do that.

“Things need to change. The law as it stands is not fit for purpose and your stories are testament to that.”

The gathering included people who were terminally ill, those who had loved ones suffer terribly at the end of life, and others whose relatives had travelled to Dignitas.

Ms Leadbeater said she felt the burden of taking on such an important issue. And she spoke of her determination to ensure a fair and respectful debate ahead of a likely free vote among MPs.

The Spen Valley MP added: “Compassion has to be at the heart of this conversation and I hope that for the small part that I will play in this piece or work I can try and facilitate a robust but also respectful and compassionate debate, which gives you guys some comfort and hope that there is light at the end of the tunnel.”

Ms Leadbeater's proposal is expected to apply only to terminally ill people who are nearing the end of life - the same change backed by the Daily Express Give Us Our Last Rights crusade.

Among those gathered was widower Warwick Jackson, a member of campaign group Dignity in Dying who has previously told his story in the pages of this newspaper.

Warwick’s wife Ann was told by doctors that palliative care would ensure she did not suffer in the days before her death from stage four peritoneal cancer.

But when the time came, she spent four days gasping for breath and begging for help to end her agony as she slowly suffocated.

Warwick said: “I just hope that our MPs will remember that they’re here to represent the feelings of their constituents. There are a lot of personal views being aired, but they need to remember that they are representatives.

“I’m quietly confident. I don’t think it will be easy and there is a lot of work to be done on the detail but it’s doable. Other countries are doing it, there’s no reason why we can’t.”

Tory MP Kit Malthouse and Liberal Democrat Christine Jardine - both supporters of efforts to legalise assisted dying - also joined the group.

Mr Malthouse told the Express: “I’m feeling cautiously optimistic about the bill because I think there is widespread acceptance now that the status quo is a horror show.

“We have got people killing themselves in awful ways, going to Switzerland, or dying painful deaths that they might want to avoid if they could.

“My message to my colleagues would be to remember that doing nothing is a choice. We have a duty to address this and try and bring some order, regulation and compassion to the current situation.”

Ms Leadbeater's Choice at the End of Life Bill is due to have its First Reading next Wednesday. Dignity in Dying chief executive Sarah Wootton said: "Families are and always have been at the heart of the movement for choice at the end of life.

"They have seen and felt firsthand just how destructive the ban on assisted dying is: forcing dying people to suffer despite the best care, spend their life savings travelling to Switzerland, or take matters into their own hands at home, with relatives often left traumatised.

"Kim Leadbeater's new Bill is a historic opportunity to listen to the public mood and bring about real change for dying people."