HAVING left politics more than three years ago, in some ways it seems like a distant and slightly bizarre previous life from which I have well and truly moved on. That’s leaving aside my weekly comment from the sidelines, of course. But occasionally an issue resurfaces with which I was so deeply involved that I find myself being brought back into current political debate when the media contact me to ask my views.

Thankfully, this happens less often these days, but there are certain issues about which my baggage is hard to discard. Civil partnerships, Central European Time and paid parking have all served to drag me back into the maelstrom of political debate from time to time. This week saw a far more difficult subject come back to haunt me when the phone rang off the hook with the local media wanting my input to the ‘assisted suicide’ debate that had been re-stimulated by the Terry Pratchett documentary.

I have frequently found myself described as ‘a campaigner for voluntary euthanasia’. I have to say that’s not a description I really recognise, but if it’s true, then I am certainly a most reluctant campaigner.

It was former deputy Pat Mellor who brought a requete to the States asking for an investigation into the subject of voluntary euthanasia. My input was simply to tell States members that while they, like me, might have some sympathy with the idea, they really shouldn’t waste time and resources investigating it unless they were genuinely willing to draft and adopt such fiendishly difficult legislation ahead of the UK.

Despite that warning, the States went ahead with the review and being HSSD minister, there was no way I could avoid being a member of the investigation team. After many months of research, reading and speaking to people on all sides of the debate, the majority of that team made a simple ‘no change’ recommendation to the States.

I couldn’t go along with that. All the evidence had served to convince me that a very limited system of voluntary euthanasia should be introduced for those suffering intolerably – in their own view – during the latter stages of a terminal illness and that the definition of ‘suffering’ shouldn’t be restricted only to physical pain.

I really had no moral choice but to gird my loins and draft a minority report along those lines, despite the sort of whirlwind I would inevitably reap. Not to do so would have been cowardice.

If that makes me a ‘campaigner’, then so be it, but it’s a role into which I was forced by events. I knew it would bring me huge criticism and it did – including some quite nasty abuse. I knew it was unlikely to succeed and given its timing (my minority report was published just before the 2004 general election) I knew it would cost me votes. So it proved. I lost count of the number of people telling me on the doorstep that they would normally vote for me but simply couldn’t because of the voluntary euthanasia issue. Thank you, Mrs Mellor.

So why did I feel so strongly that I had to stick my ugly mug above the parapet? I think I was driven by two basic principles. The first was respect for personal autonomy and a belief that the law/society/church shouldn’t dictate to individuals how they choose to end their lives. The second was as basic as the old adage of ‘do as you would be done by’.

I am not saying that I would opt for voluntary euthanasia myself if I was suffering badly in the latter stages of a terminal illness. None of us can know how we would react in those circumstances and the will to live has been deeply instilled by evolution. But I perceive that it would be a comfort just knowing such an option existed if it all got too much. Indeed, it’s interesting that in Oregon, only a small percentage of those provided with lethal medication actually end up using it, but many more say that just having it helps them deal mentally with their terminal condition.

I hope Sir Terry’s thoughtful documentary helps fuel the debate we definitely need to have over this hugely uncomfortable subject. And I hope it doesn’t degenerate into an argument over palliative care versus assisted suicide. That’s a totally false dichotomy.

I have no doubt that some change is coming and I don’t underestimate just how difficult it will be to get it right.