Sunday - September 16, 2012

according to the headline, mentally ill can serve in govt. I thought they did that now.

OK, maybe I’m out of line and unfeeling. I’ll have to leave it to the readers here to tell me.  But this seems like a very bad idea to me.

Now I do understand that mentally ill can cover almost anything and some things won’t be like the sky is falling.  However, is it reasonable to accept as members of parliament who will make important decisions for their country.  Jury duty the same.

Oh well, I guess when voters get upset about things and gripe about the loony tunes in office, now they won’t be using just a figure of speech but the real thing.

Mentally ill to be allowed to become MPs, serve on juries and be company directors

MPs have voted to end ‘discrimination’ which stops those suffering from mental illness serving in public life as a rare private members bill is backed by the House of Commons

By Rosa Prince, Online Political Editor

Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, and Ed Miliband, the Labour leader, were among those who gave their backing to the Bill, which was introduced to the Commons by the Conservative backbencher Gavin Barwell.

It repeals the practice of barring those who have suffered from severe mental health issues from serving on juries or as company directors. MPs who have been institutionalised for psychiatric reasons for more than six months will no longer be forced to stand down from Parliament.

In a rare show of unity in the House of Commons, the Mental Health (Discrimination) Bill was passed without a vote. Private Members Bills such as Mr Barwell’s usually fail to win support, and are talked out of time when they reach the Commons.

But after the Government and Opposition sung behind the new law, the bill was passed with politicians on all sides of the health praising the reform.
Mr Clegg said: “It’s ludicrous in this day and age that a person can’t contribute to public life if they’ve had issues with their mental health.

“Discrimination like this has no place in modern society and it is right that these rules are repealed. These long overdue reforms will send out a positive message that the stigmatisation of people who have mental health problems should not be tolerated.”

Mr Miliband added: “These changes will help bring public understanding and attitudes towards mental health into the 21st Century.
“They will send a message that discrimination against people with mental ill health has no place in modern Britain.
“If people with experience of mental ill health play a full part in public life, our country will be a better place for it.”

Charles Walker, a Conservative MP who has previously spoken movingly about his battle with mental illness, was among those who supported the new law. “I am delighted to say that I have been a practicing fruitcake for 31 years,” he told MPs.
“What we’re seeing is an absolute sea-change in the reporting of mental health problems. There’s still some distance to go but things are improving and they are improving quickly.”

The legislation repeals part of the 1983 Mental Health Act which forces MPs and members of the devolved assemblies to stand down if they have been sectioned for more than six moths.
It also relaxes the rules on jury selection and company directorships as they apply to mental illness.
Mr Barwell said: “It is high time we dragged the law of the land into the 21st century. My Bill’s purpose is very simple: to tackle the last legal form of discrimination in our society.

“To our shame the law of the land still discriminates against those with a mental health condition.
“An MP or a company director can be removed from their job because of mental ill health even if they go on to make a full recovery. Many people who are fully capable of performing jury service are ineligible to do so.
“The law as it stands sends out a clear message that if someone has a mental health condition, their contribution to public life is not welcome. That is an affront to a decent civilised society.”

telegraph

Oh yeah?  How about that other affront?  You know the one. The one where ppl get beaten up and the criminals are not even referred to as such, and get off free because they are judged not to be a threat and were let off due to their supposed religion.  How about torture/murder even of babies and the guilty serve a couple of years and are out free AND,
their identities are now private to protect, them.  Wanna talk about that one?
The list must be a mile long.
I think the question is, if someone had suffered “severe” mental illness, how safe is it to trust them ?  To what extent did the severity extend?

Now this really is a bit bigoted of me but, the fact that such left wingers as Milliband and Clegg support this make it a bad idea, even if the sponsor is a conservative. (in name? don’t know)

OK to be fair about this.
Perhaps if someone had a problem when they were 20, and today they’re 50, even if the problem at 20 was severe, would it be at all fair to judge
them 30 yrs later.
I guess there are always two sides and too often I get stuck on one.

But I do stick by my rant with regard to an affront to society based on so many of the get out of jail free decisions being made. And what greater affront then for the victim of a burglary to hear a judge extoll the bravery of the burglar, and then NOT send him to the pokey.

Posted by peiper     on 09/16/2012 at 12:39 PM   
Filed Under: • Medical • work and the workplace •  
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