A special forum was held at Dewsbury Minster on Tuesday to give a platform to all points of view.

And although there was no overall consensus of opinion, Dewsbury rector, the Rev Canon Kevin Partington, said the discussion was hugely worthwhile.

"We all have to grapple with the issue of death," he said. "And all the bases were covered by this debate. There were no angry words. Everyone was respectful of other people's points of view."

The debate was organised by church leaders in Wakefield as a prelude to a series of open conversations.

Four leading figures in the campaign headed up the debate.
Among them was Debbie Purdy from Bradford, who recently won a landmark ruling to have the law on assisted suicide clarified.

The 46-year-old MS sufferer brought the case as she wanted to know if her husband, Omar, would be prosecuted if he helped her to commit suicide overseas.

She joined Dr Charlotte Clare of Kirkwood Hospice, the Rev Mark Cobb of Sheffield Teaching Hospitals and the Rev Carol Wardman of Age Concern on the panel, set up by the social responsibility group in Wakefield Diocese.

Mrs Purdy said it was good that the diocese had provided the opportunity for debate to take place.

She told a packed Dewsbury Minster that all she wants to do is live.
She believes that changing the law on assisted suicide could actually save lives.

"It's like having a safety net when you walk out on a high wire. You might never need it but it's there in case you fall."

The debate came 36 hours before the Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer was due to set out out his final guidelines on assistaed suicude.

Mr Starmer issued new guidance on Thursday to clarify the law on assisted suicide.

But he stressed the advice– only slightly different from a draft version last September – does not cover so-called mercy killings.

The final guidelines set out factors to be considered when deciding whether or not to prosecute. They are not about changing the law, he said. Assisted suicide is illegal and can mean up to 14 years in jail.

The new guidelines include things such as whether the person was acting for compassionate reasons, if they co-operated with police and if the person wanting to die had the mental capacity to make such a decision.

The focus is now more on suspects' motivation rather than characteristics of the victim.