21 November 2023 , 00:01
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Tory ministers must get “serious” about tackling the mental health crisis if they want to get more people back into work, Labour has said.
Liz Kendall and Wes Streeting warned it would be “unforgivable” for the Government to “stand by and do nothing” about the problem in tomorrow’s Autumn Statement. In a letter to their Tory counterparts, the Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary and Shadow Health Secretary argued a failure to tackle the issue is damaging the economy as it is leading to “lower growth, a higher benefits bill, and so much wasted potential”.
“You claim to have a plan to get Britain working, but, unlike every other country in the G7, our employment rate still hasn’t returned to pre pandemic levels,” they wrote. “On your watch, there are now a record number of people out of work due to long term sickness - 2.6 million - the majority of whom are suffering with mental ill-health.”
They added: “Being shut out of a job because of poor health has a terrible cost for individuals, who want to be in work; for businesses, which need to draw on the skills and talents of all the population in order to expand and thrive; and for taxpayers, who are paying an extra £15.7bn a year since the pandemic in lost tax revenues and higher benefit bills.”
Demanding Chancellor Jeremy Hunt set out plans to get a grip on the problem as the Government’s tax and spending plans are announced tomorrow, they said: “You cannot build a healthy economy without a healthy society. It would be unforgivable to stand by and do nothing while a new generation of young people begin adulthood without the opportunities they need and deserve.”
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Labour had said it will end the crisis in mental health by recruiting 8,500 more mental health professionals to get patients timely treatment and open hubs for young people in every community.
Concluding their letter to Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride and Health Secretary Victoria Atkins, they wrote: “If you’re serious about growing the economy, adopt our mental health plan in the Autumn Statement and put Britain back to work. If you don’t act, a Labour government will.”
In a speech yesterday, Rishi Sunak said it is a "national scandal" that around two million working-age people are not in employment.