“Britain’s leading medical ethics expert has suggested that the frail and elderly should consider suicide to stop them becoming a financial burden on their families and society.

Baroness Warnock spoke on the eve of a Commons debate on the Mental Capacity Bill, which critics claim will allow ‘euthanasia by the back door’.

In an interview with The Sunday Times, she said:

‘I know I’m not really allowed to say it, but one of the things that would motivate me [to die] is I couldn’t bear hanging on and being such a burden on people.

‘In other contexts, sacrificing oneself for one’s family would be considered good. I don’t see what is so horrible about the motive of not wanting to be an increasing nuisance.

‘If I went into a nursing home it would be a terrible waste of money that my family could use far better.'” (Times of London)