News about Esther Rantzen

Listening to my mum read aloud a diary she kept when I was growing up was never going to be a comfortable experience. In one entry from November 1984, her concern was not that I would get bad grades or watch too much TV but whether I would take my own life. 'She gets very down and often says she wants to die rather than carry on, as she can't see any good in the future for herself,' she read. It was deeply shocking to hear. Aged seven, I had been diagnosed with a rare auto-immune condition that had transformed me from an athletic, popular girl to a wheelchair-user who, by the age of 12 - as Mum's diary entries make viscerally clear - struggled with loneliness and self-doubt.

Cardinal Vincent Nichols (right), the Archbishop of Westminster, has issued a pastoral letter warning congregations across his diocese: 'Be careful what you wish for.' It comes after Labour MP Kim Leadbeater said her Bill on the issue will be introduced to Parliament this week, and have its first Commons debate next month. This will be the first time in almost a decade that MPs have debated and voted on the controversial topic. Sir Keir Starmer has promised Labour members a free vote, honouring a commitment he made to Dame Esther Rantzen, the terminally ill founder of Childline. Dame Esther, 84, was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer last year and has since revealed she has joined the assisted-dying clinic Dignitas in Switzerland.

The pro dancer and judge, 58, was paired with celebrities such as Ruth Langsford, Ann Widdecombe, Lesley Joseph and Esther Rantzen.

A Labour MP has revealed how a call with campaigner Dame Esther Rantzen helped persuade her to push for an historic House of Commons vote on assisted dying. Kim Leadbeater, the MP for Spen Valley, said the current law is 'not fit for purpose' as she pointed to 'heartbreaking stories' of those suffering at the end of their lives. 'We wouldn't treat animals like this,' she said in a newspaper interview. 'We give our animals a better send-off than we do some human beings.' It was announced this week that Ms Leadbeater will introduce a private member's bill on assisted dying, titled Choice at the End of Life for Terminally Ill Adults. The Bill is expected to be formally introduced to Parliament on October 16, with a debate and initial vote on the matter possible within weeks. It will be the first time the topic has been debated in the House of Commons since 2015, when a previous assisted dying bill was defeated.

Anyone who has witnessed a relative or friend in acute pain and distress towards the end of their lives will understand the argument for assisted dying. Helping such unfortunate people to kill themselves rather than endure more agony would be viewed by many as a blessing. But before we legalise state-sponsored suicide, as Labour MPs may do in a Bill later this month, we must look hard at the wider implications.

This is the awkward moment BBC presenter Amol Rajan asked if Dame Esther Rantzen , who has terminal cancer , is 'with us' as the pair experienced technical issues over a phone interview. Appearing on Mr Rajan's Today programme on Radio 4 this morning, Dame Esther jokingly responded to the 'sloppy' question after two seconds of silence: 'I hope so - I'm trying my best.' The Childline founder was appearing on the radio to discuss the news that parliament will debate whether to allow assisted dying - which Dame Esther has long campaigned for - this month. When Dame Esther did reply, Mr Rajan immediately realised what he had said and burst out laughing  as he offered an apology. 'That was probably the worst question I've ever asked,' he said.

A resurfaced clip from a 1981 episode of BBC consumer right's programme 'That's Life!' shows just how novel - and newsworthy - flavoured crisps were in the UK in the early 80s.

The former BBC radio and TV presenter was described by his family in a heartfelt tribute as a 'familiar and cherished figure on British television screens throughout the 1970s and 1980s'. The Bristol-born star rose to fame on satirical consumer affairs show That's Life! alongside stars including Dame Esther Rantzen who last night said she was 'very sad' to hear that he had died. 'He was as nice off camera as he was in the studio on camera - funny, clever, charming, a very versatile presenter,' Dame Esther said. 'When I first met him he was a producer, but it was clear that he had all the attributes of the best reporters.

MPs could be given a vote to legalise assisted dying before the end of the year, Sir Keir Starmer has said. The Prime Minister confirmed he ready to fast-track legislation to allow the terminally ill to end their own lives, saying there is 'a case to be made for changing the law'. Veteran broadcaster Dame Esther Rantzen this weekend appealed directly to Sir Keir to allow a vote on the controversial topic. Speaking to reporters while travelling in Italy , the PM said he would honour his pledge to the Childline founder to allow time for a private member's bill to change the law. Asked if he was ready to grant a vote by Christmas, he said: 'I gave her my word that we would make time for this with a private member's bill and I repeat that commitment. 'I made it to her personally and I meant it, and we will. It looks like after the draw, a bill may come forward now and that means we won't block it in a sense of talking it out or some of the other manoeuvres that are sometimes used. 'I gave my word as to what we would do and I'll stick to it. It'll be a free vote but I repeat the commitment I made to Esther Rantzen on this.'

MAIL ON SUNDAY COMMENT: Campaigns over recent years to become Tory leader have not, for the most part, been triumphs. Where they have produced successful leaders, it has been more by luck than by judgment. Tory MPs must surely, sometimes, secretly yearn for the old 'Magic Circle' method, in which grandees chose the best man (for in those days it always was a man), who then 'emerged'. But today's world would never accept that. The system of election, which the party is stuck with for now, does not help. MPs, who know the candidates well, can whittle them down to a final two. But they then must

Labour MP Jake Richards (inset right) announced his intention after winning a coveted spot in the Commons ballot for private members' bills. The news brings closer the prospect of a meaningful debate and vote on the floor of the House, with claims the mood has changed after a high-profile campaign by TV star Esther Rantzen (inset left). MPs who come in the top 20 places in the random ballot get allocated time on a sitting Friday to debate and progress a proposal from the backbenches. Some 458 applied. However, legislation still rarely makes the statute book without at least tacit government support, and Mr Richards only secured 11th spot.

Wes Streeting (left) insisted the 'time has come' for a debate on assisted dying today as a new Bill was introduced to Parliament. The Health Secretary backed MPs looking at the issue again as Lord Falconer (right) tabled legislation that would allow terminally ill adults with life expectancy of six months or under to end their lives. Assisted dying has been thrust into the spotlight over the past year after cancer-stricken TV star Dame Esther Rantzen (inset) revealed that she has joined Dignitas. Keir Starmer has praised Dame Esther's campaign and committed to allowing a free vote on assisted dying, but has declined to spell out a timetable.

Dame Esther Rantzen's (centre) daughter broke down in tears as she made an emotional plea to politicians to make assisted suicide legal. Rebecca Wilcox, (right) who's mother is terminally ill with lung cancer , has given a heartbreaking appeal to not let her mother go through a 'painful death' on Good Morning Britain. Pleading with politicians to speed up the process in creating a law which 'gives people choice', Rebecca got emotional which triggered host Robert Rinder to also well up. (left)

Nature's bunting is up in Dame Esther Rantzen's beloved garden in the New Forest. The tulips - the ones she dithered over planting, because she didn't think she'd live to see them bloom - have been and gone. Now the roses are in full flower, and providing genuine joy.

Later this month Britain's first reality TV couple Marc and Karen Adams-Jones, who still live in Cardiff, will celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary with a trip to see ABBA Voyage and a night at a Premier Inn. Will there be a romantic gift to each other too? 'Well, Karen bought me a beer fridge for my last birthday, so I'm hoping for the beer to fill it,' says Marc, whose love for a pint was highlighted in the series (and not entirely positively framed; one memorable scene from Marc's stag do saw him vomiting into a pint glass).

Dame Esther's energetic campaigning to change UK law and make assisted dying legal in this country has moved the controversial question forward in a way that was unimaginable only a few months ago. In a country that's traditionally squeamish about the topic, she's made it very much part of the conversation. There's no doubt Esther's openness about her own suffering and her amazing ability to galvanise public opinion have brought about this week's quiet and thoughtful discussion about changing the law.

It comes as celebrities and campaigners gathered to show their support for an assisted dying law, after a petition gained more than 200,000 signatures and was promoted by Dame Esther who has stage four lung cancer. Broadcaster Jonathan Dimbleby , Dame Susan Hampshire and long-time campaigner Peter Tatchell are expected to be among the high-profile figures gathered. Speaking to the BBC Today's programme, Dame Esther, who has signed up for the Dignitas assisting dying clinic in Switzerland, said an 'amazing' new drug had delayed the spread of her cancer but that her time was 'very limited'. She said a change in the law 'would mean that I could look forward in confidence to a death which is pain-free surrounded by people I love'.

The death of an historic prime minister always makes the headlines. But there was something about the passing of former Dutch leader Dries van Agt in February, at the age of 93, that propelled the story beyond the breakfast table conversations of the Netherlands and on to the global news agenda.

Emma Saunders, an actress and photographer, went to her father's private GP in Chelsea with tinnitus in November 2020. 'I'd woken up with a loud ringing in my ears - it was distressing because I'd not had anything like it before and didn't know what was going on,' she says. The GP prescribed a tranquilliser, lorazepam, telling Emma, then 34, it would calm her down and help her sleep. 'The doctor obviously thought I was having a meltdown - he said he was going to give me something to take until the pandemic was over [the UK was then in a national lockdown] and life got back to normal,' she says. Emma believes the decision to take the medication changed the course of her life for the worse and she is still suffering now.

EPHRAIM HARDCASTLE: Are the £75 tours of Buckingham Palace's balcony room a dry run for when the Palace becomes a fully-fledged cash-cow?With Charles basing himself at Clarence House and in effect downgrading the Palace, couldn't he raise millions making it available to film crews and organisations for functions? If the Palace tills worked all year, the annual £12 million income from the summer openings could have quadrupled. I'm told the balcony was included in the original tour itinerary, with paying visitors photographed at the historic venue but it was later turned down.

The late stockbroker is lauded for rescuing 669 children by arranging Kindertransport trains that brought them to Britain before the Second World War began. His life was largely unknown until he emotionally connected with those he saved on BBC show That's Life in 1988 (left). In the new film One Life, Sir Anthony Hopkins (inset) brought Sir Nicholas' selfless efforts into greater public notice. Sir Nicholas is also known to have helped orchestrate three flights that carried children out of Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia on the eve of war. However, details of a fourth flight have been found in Sir Nicholas' unpublished diaries.

Since being the television's earthiest pin-up, she transformed gardens on Ground Force and won herself a legion of male followers. From 1997 to 2005, the red-haired beauty appeared on the hit BBC show between 1997 and 2005, amassing an army of followers with her braless appearances. Fans adored her for her remarkable insight, funny sense of humour, and fighting her own against the boys. However, these days, she's toned down her pin-up demeanor and swapped the tank tops for more modest outfits. Do YOU recognise her?

It's January 2019, and Donald, 78, awakenes sore and groggy after emergency surgery. The heron-faced consultant is soon by his bedside. The news is tragic. Donald, he claims, has late-stage, inoperable bowel cancer. He only has weeks to live. You might never get home. Doctors might also have advocated euthanasia in some countries. Donald was my father, and a tale was born. But euthanasia - or, as it is incorrectly described as, 'assisted death' - hasn't been able to go away in recent years. And if it does have a face.

Rebecca Wilcox said that if Labour wins the election, you will hold a referendum within five years. Sir Keir Starmer's pledge that if Labour wins the election will come too late for the broadcaster, who has incurable cancer. Ms Rantzen said today that she did not want her family's last memories of her mother to be painful, and that she was asking in vain for help. Ms Wilcox said she had been attempting to contact the Prime Minister to tell him to hurry, but no success. 'There actually isn't that much going on in Parliament,' she told TalkTV.' Everybody seems to be gearing up for the forthcoming election. Why not have a vote now?Why doesn't Rishi Sunak go out on a high by giving something to everyone that we all want?'