Sir Kier Starmer, formerly the Director of Public Prosecutions, and who is now a Labour MP, said the law “needs to be changed”. He believes people must be helped to take their own lives without being forced to inconveniently travel to Switzerland in their final days. He said it is time politicians protected compassionate loved ones from prosecution by legalising assisted dying. He claimed that Crown Prosecution Service guidelines “simply don’t deal with the problem of people wanting to end their lives in this country, medically assisted, rather than traipse off to Switzerland”. He said: “The present guidelines have in-built limitations, which mean that there can be injustice in a number of cases. The important thing is to have safeguards. This is a remarkable statement from an official who stood at the basis of the aforementioned Guidelines!
