Prue Leith has explained why she thinks her son Danny Kruger is so strongly opposed to the legalisation of assisted dying.
The TV chef appeared in a new Channel 4 documentary with Kruger, the Conservative MP for Devizes, to discuss their views on assisted dying.
Prue and Danny’s Death Road Trip, which aired on Thursday (16 February), sees Leith and Kruger travel across Canada, where assisted dying is legal, to meet doctors and people who are seeking the service.
Leith has been a long-time campaigner for legalising the service in the UK for the terminally ill, after her brother died “in agony” of bone cancer in 2012.
However, Kruger is against it and has instead called for improvements to palliative care.
In their documentary, the Great British Bake Off star said she thinks her son opposes assisted dying because of his Christian beliefs. Leith, meanwhile, is an atheist.
In a conversation with him, she asked him: “You don’t think that behind your personal and your faith’s objection is the belief that suffering is part of life, Jesus suffered on the cross, suffering is good for the soul?”
Kruger replied: “I think suffering is a part of life, but I don’t think we should suffer unnecessarily. Certainly, we should be putting all our efforts into stopping suffering at the end of life.”
While on the road, Leith also accused her son of “scaremongering”, after their visit to a researcher who is opposed to assisted dying.
However, Kruger said she was the one who was “scaremongering” by saying people are “facing a terrible, agonising death”. “They’re not,” he argued. “We do not have to have terrible, agonising death.”
After the pair visit a doctor who helps people undergo assisted dying, she told the camera: “I’m feeling a bit sorry for Daniel because, frankly, Stephanie made such a good case that I think he should change his mind.”
Asked if she thought he will, Leith said: “No, he won’t. I’m sure he won’t. I think fundamentally, Daniel thinks it’s wrong. And I think he so believes in the ‘sanctity of human life’, if you like, and it’s a genuine belief… But I’m not asking him to do it, I’m just asking him to let me do it.”
