'Is this really the right time to be offering death as a solution?'

Silent Witness star Liz Carr explains why she believes the assisted dying debate puts disabled people in peril

- JEN PHARO

She is the star of Silent Witness, Good Omens and The Witcher, but now Liz Carr is taking on the most important role of her life.

Long before her acting career made her a household name, Liz was an activist, campaigning against repeated attempts to legalise assisted dying in the UK. Now she has authored a BBC documentary called Better Off Dead?, a project she has been trying to get off the ground since 2011.

“It scares me that it feels like the majority of people think assisted suicide is a really good idea,” says Liz. “I don’t think we’re hearing about other viewpoints. There are a lot of people who have fears.

“Looking at where we’re going in society at the moment, recent comments about benefits and disabled people, is this really the right time to be offering death as a solution?” she asks.

Liz, a wheelchair user since her teenage years, says many people have told her that if they were “like her’’ they’d rather be dead – and all her disabled friends have had the same experience.

In the show, Liz asks, “If you saw someone on a bridge about to jump, would you stand by and let them do it? Would you support them in the name of choice and autonomy? No, you would probably intervene and suggest they get help. But if it was a disabled person, would your response be the same? Or do you see their decision to end their life as understandable, even inevitable?

“Many of us feel that assisted suicide creates a two-tier system – suicide prevention for some, suicide approval for others.”