Tony Vaughan

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Dowd. I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Ashford (Sojan Joseph) not only for securing this debate but for his tireless, dedicated work as a mental health nurse in the NHS. I thank him for his service. His analysis of the problems and solutions was masterful, and Parliament is all the stronger for having his expertise and experience in this place. The issue of mental health support is a policy challenge that goes beyond party political lines. Any civilised society is judged on how it treats its most vulnerable. The state of people’s mental health in our nations is incredibly concerning. As a former trustee of South Kent Mind in my constituency of Folkestone and Hythe, I have seen a downward trajectory in people’s mental health outcomes, particularly in deprived areas, and how mental health services are increasingly under strain. I also pay tribute to the incredible work done by South Kent Mind, which provides invaluable advice and well-run and well-attended classes, such as cookery and exercise classes, which provide local people with a sense of community, togetherness and support. Statistics from Mind have laid bare the reality. Each year, one in four people in England will experience a mental health problem of some kind, and one in six people report experiencing a common mental health problem, such as anxiety and depression. The number of people reporting self-harm went up by 62% between 2000 and 2014, and the number of people reporting suicidal thoughts in the past year went up by 30% between 2000 and 2014. The mental health of people in this country is undoubtedly deteriorating, and we know that some groups are more likely than others to be impacted by mental health problems, such as the LGBTQIA+ community, black British people and women aged 16 to 24. There are several reasons behind the steep increase in suffering, such as the giant evils of inequality and austerity that have ripped the heart out of our communities. Unemployment and poor housing still plague people’s mental health, just as they did in the age of the Victorian workhouse. There are in addition recent phenomena, such as the rise of social media, creating unprecedented pressures on young people to look a certain way, and the decline in physical health in our communities, especially in de-industrialised areas. As a society we say that one suicide is too many, and that we want to remove the stigma around mental health. But as we know, the stigma festers in too many houses, homes, offices and sports clubs, particularly with men and boys, for whom talking about feelings or being seen to be vulnerable can be perceived as weak or embarrassing. I sense that I am out of time, so I will sit down.