Mental Health Bill is dropped after campaign
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Your support makes all the difference.Draconian proposals to lock up the mentally ill were the most notable omission from the Queen's Speech, leading campaigners to claim the Government had been forced to think again on its plans.
Other measures missing from the legislative programme were a paving Bill for a euro referendum, moves to legislate for corporate manslaughter and a Civil Service Bill on spin doctors.
The decision not to include a Mental Health Bill follows massive criticism of proposals to enable people with severe personality disorders to be detained even if they had committed no crime.
A draft Mental Health Bill published in June was attacked by the Mental Health Alliance, which represents 50 organisations including the Royal College of Psychiatrists and Mind. The Independent on Sunday has campaigned against the plans to detain those suffering from mental illness, backing experts who said the Bill was flawed and unethical.
This week, the House of Commons and House of Lords Joint Committee on Human Rights published a report warning that the Bill's definition of mental disorder was so wide it could include conditions such as epilepsy and diabetes.
A Department of Health spokeswoman said the Bill could still be introduced. "The Queen's Speech is not a comprehensive list of the Bills for the coming session and Bills can be introduced even if they have not been in the speech," she said.
"We are still committed to reform of mental health legislation and a Bill will be introduced as soon as time allows. We had 2,000 responses during the consultation on the Bill. We have to carefully consider those and have to refine the Bill."
The Queen's Speech confirmed that the Government "will make a decision on whether to recommend entry into the single currency on the basis of the assessment of the five economic tests to be completed by next June". But Downing Street and ministers said nothing should be read into the absence of any legislation for a euro referendum for this parliamentary session. The Prime Minister's official spokesman stressed that the lack of any reference to a Bill should not be taken as a signal that a decision had been taken not to hold a referendum.
Tony Blair told MPs: "This country's future in the end, whatever difficulties and doubts they have of Europe, lies at the heart of Europe and not on the outside of Europe."
Other measures put on hold in the Queen's Speech were sellers' packs for homeowners, the creation of a nuclear liabilities management authority, both of which merit only draft bills, and a crackdown on Enron-style accounting.
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