The extent to which people should be able to have some control over how and when they die is a hugely contentious issue. In 2006, the House of Lords blocked Lord Joffe’s bill that would have allowed terminally ill people in certain circumstance to be helped to die. Yet there is little robust and impartial evidence about the attitudes of people in Britain towards these issues. To find out more about what people think, the 2005 British Social Attitudes survey included a set of questions about attitudes to assisted dying and end of life care.