MEP calls for legal euthanasia

Mr Crew died on Monday in a flat in Switzerland

An MEP for the North West has called for the legalisation of euthanasia in the UK.

Lib-Dem Chris Davies has made the call after Liverpool man Reginald Crew died through assisted suicide in Switzerland.

Mr Crew had suffered from motor neurone disease for four years, but was forced to go abroad to fulfil his wish to die, because it is against the law in the UK.

His wife, Win, was due to travel back to Liverpool on Tuesday, unsure whether she would face charges for her role in helping her husband to die.

After years of pain and suffering, to be allowed to die with dignity should be the most fundamental human right of all

Chris Davies MEP

Mr Crew, 74, died after taking a lethal dose of barbiturates through a straw at a clinic run by "assisted suicide" group Dignitas.

It is understood he died with his wife Win at his bedside.

Ludwig Minelli, who set up Dignitas, twice told Mr Crew he was free not to accept the drink and leave the clinic, but both times he refused.

In the wake of his death, Mr Davies said the law in the UK should afford terminally ill people the opportunity to take their own life.

"After years of pain and suffering, to be allowed to die with dignity should be the most fundamental human right of all," said Mr Davies.