Considerable savings could be made if assisted suicide were to be introduced on the island of Guernsey, according to a local politician

Lester Queripel told the local parliament’s Health & Social Care Committee that the Island’s financial problems provide an ideal opportunity to revisit the controversial issue.

The Deputy said that ‘no stone should be left unturned’ as committees battle to save millions of pounds a year in spending. And he urged HSC to accept that significant savings could be realised through the use of assisted suicide.

In written questions to HSC, Deputy Queripel asked how many people had been kept alive, against their wishes, in the past five years, how much their medication and treatment had cost taxpayers, and how many staff hours had been taken up keeping them alive.

HSC president Al Brouard said such figures were unavailable and rebuked Deputy Queripel for his choice of language.