Well, England is providing much food for thought at the present time, isn't it?

Since the 1960s, Ray Gosling has been presenting various programmes and documentaries on British TV and radio, and, in fact, he has continued to do so right into his 70s. He was also an influential gay rights activist and was prominent in the the movement to highlight discimination against homosexuals.

Just a day or two ago, he admitted in another television programme that he had once smothered his lover, who was suffering from AIDS, to relieve his suffering. At one point after this confession, he said he made the admission because he was making a programme about death, and he was aware that many other people in the country had been involved in similar "acts of mercy".

Gosling is now under arrest and is being questioned by Nottinghamshire Police.

Last year, three people were arrested in connection with the death of a woman suffering from multiple sclerosis. One of the three is a former "right-to-die" campaigner and a retired GP.

Earlier that year, another MS sufferer - who has openly declared that she is considering ending her life at some time in the future, using the services of an organisation like Dignitas in Switzerland, and has said that she wants her husband to be with her during her last moments - managed to persuade the House of Lords to order the Director of Public Prosecutions to clarify under what circumstances he would prosecute a person who had assissted someone to commit suicide.

Under UK law, it is an offence to assist a suicide, even if committed abroad. There are severe penalties attached to the crime, but the DPP has discretion whether to prosecute. To date, it is unclear how and when he will decide to prosecute. The Lords' ruling has so far resulted in the DPP indicating that prosecutions are likely to be made where there is a financial motive and/or depending upon how the decision to die was taken. Further clarification is still awaited.

After all that preamble, I want to start this debate by asking, are these people all killers, who deserve to be punished, or do acts of mercy such as these deserve recognition for the simple kindness they have done, at such an enormous risk to themsleves?

Ray Gosling claims that his lover was suffering, and Ms Purdy, the MS sufferer, wants to die while she still has a degree of self-control and dignity, and that these reasons (a) justify their death and (b) exonerate the "facilitator". On the other hand, a senior nurse at a hospice here has said, she has seen many of her patients die of terminal and debilitating conditions, and only a tiny handful have ever died in pain or distress, because the medicines they administer enable almost any amount of pain to be controlled, either by blocking the pain sensors, or by knocking the patient out. In fact, she suggested that, far from bringing the patient to an early death, it was often possible to prolong their lives a little.