RESPECT MP George Galloway has warned that legalising assisted suicide could be a slippery slope leading to Dr Death panels deciding who lives and who dies.

RESPECT MP George Galloway has warned that legalising assisted suicide could be a slippery slope leading to "Dr Death" panels deciding who lives and who dies.

The Bethnal Green and Bow MP expressed his view on BBC Question Time last night.

He was joined on the programme panel by now Independent MP Clare Short, the former Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer, Tory MP Theresa May and Daily Mail columnist Melanie Phillips.

Speaking about assisted suicide Galloway told the audience: "The real danger is not just that family members with something to gain from the estate will hurry 'old granny' along. But government may recognise that you can save vast amounts of money by medically cleansing wards....And before you know it you have this nightmarish vision of a panel of doctor death saying thumps op or down." The MP added that suicide was still an option for people suffering.

Others subjects up for discussions were MPs expenses and the current inquiry into the war in Iraq.