What discussions she has had with the Director of Public Prosecutions on his interim policy for prosecutors on assisted suicide.

After the House of Lords required the DPP to produce his interim policy for prosecutors on cases of assisted suicide in July, my office was consulted by him, as is appropriate for a superintendent Department. The DPP's interim policy is now the subject of public consultation and a final policy will be issued next year.

Let me emphasise that all cases alleging assisted suicide are assessed on their facts and merits.

I am grateful for that answer. One of the things that concerns me about the DPP's interim guidance is that serious disability is one of the factors that he will consider in assessing whether a prosecution is not in the public interest. I wonder about the message that that sends out to people with a disability about the extent to which we want a society that helps them live independently and gives them a good quality of life rather than encourages them to take their own lives.

I cannot for one minute think that any innuendo of that kind could be appropriately drawn. The court asked the DPP effectively to list, as a policy, all the factors that were capable of being taken into account. That is as far as the reference to disability goes. It would probably be odd to leave out disability caused by, for example, life-limiting illness in a case of someone assisting a suicide. The cases are complex and sensitive, but no innuendo such as that suggested by the hon. Gentleman could possibly be drawn. The DPP is consulting publicly to try to get every factor and to balance them. As the hon. Gentleman well knows, it was not the DPP's wish to produce any guidelines. Let me emphasise again that each such case, when it arises, will be considered carefully on its merits.

The Judicial Committee in the House of Lords put the DPP in an invidious position in asking him to declare the law. That is a matter for Parliament, not the DPP. Do the Government have any plans in the near future to revisit section 2 of the Suicide Act 1961?

No, we do not. My hon. Friend is right that the law has not been changed.