A stalwart supporter of assisted suicide in the UK, Lord Falconer, the former lord chancellor, will chair a commission to investigate whether it should be legalised. Sponsored by the left-leaning think tank Demos, the self-styled “Commission on Assisted Dying” plans to hold public hearings and take evidence from experts before issuing a report in December 2011.

Lord Falconer says that the commission will be objective: "We approach the task, each one of us, determined to come up with a report of quality which will be respected as an objective, dispassionate and authoritative analysis of the issues and as providing a reliable way forward.”
However, critics have already complained about its independence and its funding links to the lobby group Dying with Dignity.

Richard Hawkes, chief executive of the disability charity Scope, told the BBC: "we are deeply concerned that this pseudo 'commission' will not reflect the concerns and fears of many disabled people. When it is funded by supporters of legalising assisted suicide and without a formal remit from government, we would question how independent this commission really can be." ~ BBC, Nov 30;