As part of my former role as Shadow Minister for Mental Health, I worked very closely with Melanie Leahy and other campaigners affected by the terrible deaths in Essex mental health hospitals.

The Terms of Reference for the inquiry into this scandal have now at long last been published. This inquiry has been beset by delays since the beginning, which is simply not good enough.

After more than a year of waiting, the Government has finally responded to the Joint Committee report on the draft Mental Health Bill.

In that time, they kicked mental health into the long grass while patients continued to suffer.

The Government response is poor - rejecting vital calls for a Mental Health Commissioner, refusing to ban discriminatory Community Treatment Orders and ignoring a right to culturally appropriate advocacy.

Why make us wait so long and not provide any meaningful change?

​With waiting lists higher than ever, we need bold action on mental health. It is clear the Tories are simply not up to the job.

A Labour Government must bring forward mental health reform with the recommendations of the committee at its core.

Every year in Westminster, there is a debate on Children's Mental Health Awareness Week.

Every year, politicians agree the children's mental health crisis must end.

But nothing changes and children continue to be let down by inaction. Today, I led calls in Parliament for this to change.

In today's Guardian, my latest figures reveal that thousands of people are re-admitted to mental health hospitals within days or weeks of leaving it, wreaking havoc on people's lives.

Why? Because the Tories cut a quarter of mental health beds and patients don't get the care they deserve. Read the full story here

In today’s Guardian, I reveal the scandal of new mothers being turned away from mental health services. 

For some time, I’ve been concerned that new mothers are being left to suffer in silence. My figures show that last year, nearly 20,000 new mothers were turned away from mental health services.

Maternal mental health services are being rationed. This is despite maternal illness costing the whole of society £8.1 billion a year. It is an absolute scandal.

The 8,500 new staff Labour will recruit are vital to solving this crisis.

Read the full article here

The Tories have scrapped the Mental Health Act - failing thousands of patients.

Labour must seize the opportunity to modernise mental health legislation, with the Joint Committee's recommendations in mind.

Read my piece in New Statesman here.

Today, the Government have scrapped their pledge to reform the Mental Health Act.

More than six years of reports, campaigning and hard work has gone down the drain.

Last year, I sat on the Joint Committee on the Draft Mental Health Bill. 

There was overwhelming cross-party support for reforming the Act. 

To this day, the Government has failed to respond to the committee's recommendations.

Earlier this year, the Conservatives scrapped their own 10-year mental health plan. 

Dither, delay and failure is on form with the Tories' approach to tackling the crisis in mental health services.

Black people are five times more likely to be detained under the Mental Health Act. 

The Tories have scrapped a once in a generation opportunity to tackle this burning injustice.

Last month, I challenged the Health Minister to commit to reforming the Mental Health Act, her response was less than insightful.

It is disappointing that the Tories continue to bury their heads in the sand and neglect mental health services. They are out of ideas and it's costing patients their lives.

Only Labour can provide the transformation needed to improve services. 

The Government is dragging its feet on reforming mental health services – it's costing people their lives. 

I asked the Minister if she will keep her promise to reform the Mental Health Act - there was no answer. This is a Government out of ideas. We need a General Election now.

Police forces across England are set to stop attending many incidents concerning mental health under a new National Partnership Agreement: Right Care, Right Person.

The Government's announcement leaves far too many questions unanswered and fails to tackle the root problem of lengthy NHS waiting lists in mental health services. I have written to the Health Secretary, Steve Barclay, asking him to come clean on what action he is taking to tackle mental health waiting lists.
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Read my full letter here: