21/05/20 – Update on the Letter to Gavin Williamson from Dr Lisa Cameron MP – Helen clark Writes

As we mentioned on Monday, Dr Lisa Cameron MP has sent a letter signed by 65 MPs and Peers to Gavin Williamson, the Secretary of State for Education.

The open letter concerning the effect of COVID-19 is rapidly gaining support. The APPG on A Fit and Healthy Childhood has published three reports to date on children’s mental health and we applaud this excellent initiative.

I do hope that all APPG members will want to contact their own MP and ask them to support the letter also.

Jacob Rees Mogg, Leader of the House of Commons has announced that all MPs must return to work at Westminster when the House resumes sitting after the current short recess. He gave as his reason the fact that there are so many forthcoming Bills to deal with. One of these, of course, is the reform of the 1983 Mental Health Act as promised by Boris Johnson in the December 2019 Queen’s Speech. It would be wonderful if APPG members could now write to The Secretary of State for Health, Matt Hancock, and the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, and ask them to make this pledge a priority – with the needs of children written prominently on the face of the Bill.

We are in the midst of a child mental health crisis, pre-dating the pandemic but now greatly intensified by its onset. It is therefore essential that we act now because amidst all the devastation arising from COVID-19, there is a real chance to make lasting improvements in mental health outcomes for all children.

Please act now and make Boris Johnson keep his promise!’

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