Why we are concerned

This January, the government published a White Paper on reforming the Mental Health Act 1983. The law does badly need changing, but there are major problems with the White Paper and with the recent consultation about it, which was selective and directive. Although the White Paper contains a large number of proposals:

• It is full of loopholes, lacks ‘teeth’ and falls far short of our full human rights, especially the rights set out in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
• It is strongly based on a medical model
• We can still be detained in psychiatric hospitals against our will, if it’s thought there may be real risk otherwise, even though no one else can be locked up for that reason and risk assessments are known to be highly unreliable
• The White Paper also fails to tackle multiple discrimination adequately

These human rights breaches are completely unacceptable, still more so because the government response to its consultation has again failed to address them. That is why the user-led group, Liberation, is continuing to campaign against the White Paper.

Please help us by writing urgently to your MP in support of our campaign, or by re-writing, if you have already written once.

1. Submit the form on this page - it will find your MP

2. Edit our template letter as much or as little as you want on the next page.
3. Send it and share this action on social media!