A change in the law on organ donation may yet occur, in spite of an expert advisory body yesterday rejecting the idea. The UK Organ Donation Task Force said that moving to a system where people are presumed to give consent to their organs being used for transplant risked damaging the "vital relationship of trust" between doctors and patients at the end of life. It admitted that the arguments for and against an "opt-out" system were "finely balanced".

But it concluded that a "presumed consent" system would be complex and costly and would require a secure IT system - at a time when public trust over the security of government held data has diminished.