IN THE DOG DAYS of August, there’ll be a series on BBC Radio called The Thin Red Line, about conflict resolution. That is to say, a presenter brings together two people who disagree violently about some issue, and provides a professional conflict resolution person to help narrow the areas of disagreement between them, and encourage them to see the other person’s point of view. And – who knows – perhaps to resolve their differences.

For the programme on assisted dying, the presenter, Anne McElvoy, got me and the distinguished Guardian journalist, Polly Toynbee, to discuss the issue with an eirenic lady called Gaby, to get us to behave nicely and understand each other’s perspective.