TV presenter says subject may not be debated in parliament for another decade if legislation does not pass

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Esther Rantzen, whose terminal cancer diagnosis led her to campaign for the legalisation of assisted dying, has issued an impassioned plea to MPs to vote this week on a “vital life-and-death issue”.

The television personality told MPs “my time is running out” but the issue was one “the public care desperately about” and said it might not be debated by MPs “for another decade” if the legislation did not pass.