Right to lie?

Today's column, on the right to die, contains this quote:

In the polls, over 80% support the right to die and have done for the last 25 years.

The best poll I know of in the UK for measuring changes in social attitudes is the British Social Attitudes Survey. Care to guess what they have to say about the issue? Well, they report that:

Opinion polls show that not only do euthanasia and assisted suicide already enjoy the support of a substantial majority of the UK population, but also that this support is actually growing. A 75% majority in favour of permitting medical assistance in the ending the life of a sufferer from a painful, incurable disease in 1984 increased to 79% in 1989, and 82% in 1994

This is from British Social Attitudes Report, 1996. Now I appreciate not every library has a copy of the tome. It is, however, quoted here.

Even Dignity in Dying, referenced by Pollyanna in the column, have on their website the historical results of polls, showing that support did not exceed 80% until 1994.

Needless to say, the facts do not bear out Polly's contention that an 80% majority have supported the right to die for over 25 years.