Hewitt calls for suicide law change

Former health secretary Patricia Hewitt is calling on MPs to allow people to people to take terminally ill patients abroad for assisted suicide.

She has tabled an amendment to the Coroners and Justice Bill seeking a law change "in line with current practice". More than 100 MPs have signed a Commons motion calling for the issue to be debated.

However, the amendment, which will not yet be voted on, is thought to have little chance of success as it is not supported by the government.

Hewitt's proposal comes after several high profile cases involving assisted suicides, many at the Swiss clinic Dignitas. Since it opened in 1998, more than 100 British citizens have ended their lives in Switzerland, where it is legal to aid and abet a suicide.

However, British law forbids the practice and anyone found guilty faces up to 14 years in prison.

So far there have been no prosecutions of relatives, but the Director of Public Prosecutions has carried out investigations into cases.

At the end of last year, the parents of paralysed rugby player Daniel James were told they would not face charges over his death. The 23-year-old, from Worcester, ended his life in Switzerland in September even though he was not terminally ill.

His parents made payments to Dignitas and made travel arrangements for their son.

The DPP ruled that although there was "sufficient evidence" to prosecute the couple, it would not be in the public interest to do so.