Matt Hancock has opened the door to changing the law on doctor assisted suicide, it has been reported.
The Health Secretary has written to Sir Ian Diamond, the national statistician, to ask for data on the number of Britons who kill themselves after being diagnosed with a terminal medical condition.
In a private meeting, Mr Hancock is said to have told the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on assisted dying that he wanted the figures to inform a new debate on legalising doctor-assisted suicide in the UK.
And he said he hoped the figures would “shed more light on the data of those at a time of their choosing.”
It comes as Senior Tory Andrew Mitchell, a former cabinet minister, questioned whether current assisted dying laws "bear up under scrutiny".
Writing in the Telegraph, the former Chief Whip and International Development Secretary said: "Rather than moralising over generalised concerns, we must examine whether our current laws bear up under scrutiny, protect our citizens and respect their dignity.
“If they don't, Members of Parliament cannot surely stand idly by and consign dying Brits to a miserable and undignified fate which our constituents would not choose for themselves."
Last month a cross-party group of more than 50 MPs and peers called for the Government to instigate a review of the UK's assisted dying laws.
The joint letter from parliamentarians to Justice Secretary Robert Buckland argued the UK was "falling behind the rest of the world".
The letter, coordinated by Humanists UK and campaign group My Death, My Decision, claimed that "our laws on assisted dying are letting down our citizens".
