Will the right time ever come?

Instead it portrays the whole topic as an untimely distraction when there is so much else to be discussed.

In essence, it is the Not Now response.

On the surface it is an entirely reasonable position. The island has existed without such a law for generations and can continue in that manner for decades to come.

There is no huge pressure coming from outside the island community – as there was, for example, in the wave of other countries adopting same-sex marriage legislation – and the island populace is not marching in the streets demanding action.

There is a lot on the island’s plate at the moment. Brexit, the economic slowdown, political upheaval, education, waste. It is all there and much of it will shape the island’s future for decades to come.

And for much of the island’s population the issue will not touch their lives in the near future. For a lucky few, it may never do so.

Sadly, that is not true for everyone.

There will be people in the island already struggling to cope with a debilitating, painful, terminal illness which they feel has robbed them of any quality of life.

In the months and years to come that scenario will be repeated time and again for islanders as cruel illnesses keep on striking.

Many of those individuals will see it through regardless. They would not make use of assisted dying even if it were possible.

There will, however, be some – perhaps only a handful – for whom the thought of relief from a painful, hopeless life being available at the time of their choosing would be reassuring.

They might never take that option, but the fact that it exists would provide some comfort and an important measure of control.

Those who have no fundamental objection to the concept of assisted dying but instead place this debate in the ‘too difficult’ pile must be prepared to consider those who will be most affected by a delay.

They may be few in number but for them there is no greater priority.

Should they be told now is not a convenient time?