NUS and the Mental Health Alliance are holding a lobby of parliament on 28 November 2006 to campaign against the proposals for amendment to current mental health legislation.

Many of you will be aware of our long fight against the draft mental health bill earlier this year. That bill was scrapped, but we now face amendments to the current legislation that concern us terribly.

The proposed amendments suggest a new definition for mentally ill people, and that definition concerns us. It enables clinicians to section people based on a very broad definition of mental illness. Given the fact that we know that people are regularly sectioned as a result of discrimination in mental health services (particularly Black and LGBT people), we feel it would be very dangerous to allow the decision to go ahead.

Also, the protection of LGBT people has been removed under the current legislation, effectively enabling homophobic clinicians to section someone simply because of their sexuality.

Instead of addressing the massive underfunding of mental health services, the discrimination and oppression within the services – the government has chosen to ignore the views of mental health service users and press ahead with the draconian and dangerous amendments.

Please join us in our campaign against these regressive amendments to mental health legislation by coming to the lobby of parliament on 28 November. More details can be found here on the Mental Health Alliance site.

We are also looking for volunteers to help steward the event. Please contact alex.kemp@nus.org.uk for more information.

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