Tory MP Turns On His Party Over Mental Health 'Failings'

Charity accuses government of 'betrayal' as reforms shelved

- REBECCA THOMAS

The most vulnerable mental health patients have been failed by the government after it shelved a bill to reform the Mental Health Act, a long-standing Tory MP has said.

Sir Charles Walker, a long-term advocate for mental health services who has spoken about his own battles living with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), criticised Rishi Sunak for failing to bring forward legislation in the King’s Speech to “modernise” the 40-year-old act, despite it being a key plank of the Conservative Party manifesto in 2019.

It means changes to the act are highly unlikely to be passed before the next general election, with one charity accusing the government of “betrayal”. Sir Charles, who sat on the government’s scrutiny committee for the Mental Health Act reforms, told The Independent that it was a “great shame” it had not been included in the speech. “It’s a harsh characterisation [of the government], but I think we are failing them [patients],” he said.