'Gordon Brown shows lack of respect on right to die'

RIGHT-TO-DIE campaigner Debbie Purdy last night criticised Gordon Brown for showing a "lack of respect" to the British people after he warned against legalising assisted suicide.

Mr Brown said changing the law would run the risk of putting vulnerable people under pressure to end their lives and result in an erosion of trust in the caring professions.

In a newspaper article today, Mr Brown said: "Let us be clear: death as an option and an entitlement, via whatever bureaucratic processes a change in the law on assisted suicide might devise, would fundamentally change the way we think about death.

"The risk of pressures – however subtle – on the frail and the vulnerable, who may for example feel their existences burdensome to others, cannot ever be entirely excluded."

Ms Purdy said: "To have a Prime Minister who says actually I don't care if 95 per cent of the population think we should find a law and discuss whether it's possible or not… I think it shows a lack of respect for the British people."