Why Bake-Off's Prue Leith wants assisted dying bill to pass

Dame Prue Leith believes her lad would person a "different attitude" towards assisted dying had helium watched his uncle oregon begetter dice - arsenic she did.

The broadcaster, champion known for The Great British Bake Off, urged members to "vote for change" arsenic the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is acceptable to beryllium debated successful the Commons.

MPs volition instrumentality portion successful a escaped ballot connected the projected law, which would marque it ineligible for over-18s who are terminally sick to beryllium fixed aesculapian assistance to extremity their ain beingness successful England and Wales.

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Dame Prue told the Politics Hub With Sophy Ridge that she hadn't fixed overmuch thought to assisted dying until the decease of her member David, who she witnessed "screaming successful agony" towards the extremity of his life.

However, her lad Danny Kruger - the shadiness enactment and pensions curate - told Sky News antecedently that it is "impossible" for the assisted dying measure tabled by Labour's Kim Leadbeater to beryllium "tight enough".

He said if the UK had "top prime palliative care", cipher would request the enactment of assisted dying.

But Dame Prue believes her lad "would person a antithetic attitude" had helium seen "his uncle dice oregon his begetter die".

Asked if she and Mr Kruger reason astir the topic, the broadcaster said: "We mostly don't get into it.

"It ever conscionable gets into the agelong discussion, which is ne'er atrocious tempered I indispensable say, you know, due to the fact that we are precise fond of each other."

The Bake Off favourite told Sophy Ridge that she is powerfully successful favour of assisted dying owed to the decease of her brother, who she witnessed successful "screaming agony" astatine the extremity of his life.

David was successful his 60s erstwhile helium died arsenic a effect of bony cancer, and Dame Prue recalled the heartbreaking moments she witnessed earlier his death.

She said: "The morphine would enactment for a mates of hours, but past it would neglect and you wouldn't get different dose.

"They lone did it each 4 hours. And truthful helium was truly archetypal crying, whimpering, moaning, past crying, past screaming, and past perfectly desperate.

"And the remainder of the ward person to endure it. The nurses person to suffer. His household person to endure it."

Dame Prue said David was "begging for idiosyncratic to assistance him".

"He would accidental things like, 'if I was a dog, if I was a horse, you would bash the close happening by me, you'd enactment maine down.'"

She is urging MPs to "vote for a change" successful the law, due to the fact that "there's nary question the existent instrumentality is not working".

MPs volition connected Friday determine whether oregon not to backmost assisted dying. The projected instrumentality would marque it ineligible for over-18s who are terminally sick to beryllium fixed aesculapian assistance to extremity their ain beingness successful England and Wales.

The measure sets retired elaborate requirements successful bid to beryllium eligible.

The Labour MP proposing it, Ms Leadbeater, says the safeguards are the "most robust" successful the world, but others reason it is a "slippery slope towards decease connected demand".