Mental Health Bill [Lords]

Chris McDonald Excerpts

2nd reading
Monday 19th May 2025 Commons Chamber

[Chris McDonald (Stockton North) (Lab)]

I echo the remarks of previous speakers; it has been a privilege to listen to the depth of personal and professional expertise expressed in this debate. I do not share that expertise, as I think will become abundantly obvious in a short moment.

What do you get if you put a group of men in a room and ask them to talk about mental health? Half of them leave, and the other half run into the corners of the room. I do not know whether that rings true for the men in your life, Madam Deputy Speaker, but when I heard that, it reminded me of myself. I heard it from a chap called Graham in Norton in my constituency, rather than from Graham Norton. Graham has set up a men’s shed in Norton, which is a national scheme. It is a remarkable place where men can come together and talk about mental health, but they do so by engaging in other activities.

For those who have not been to one, a men’s shed is just like your shed—it has all the great things your shed has—but your mates are there as well. In the men’s shed in Norton, you can make model boats, or make things using the 3D printer, and it has the most amazing workshop, which includes a fantastic pillar drill. It made me think that I need a pillar drill for my workshop, to help my mental health. I met many men there; some were bereaved, some were suffering from serious or terminal illnesses, and others were feeling lonely. They gave me plenty of tea, and we had a really good chat—a really positive and uplifting chat—and there was a great deal of mickey-taking as well, which you always find when you get a group of men together.

That sort of facility is incredibly important for all the reasons we have heard about in discussions about men’s mental health. Not least among those, as we have heard a number of times this evening, is the fact that for men of my age, suicide is the most prevalent reason for death. We heard that from my hon. Friends the Members for Darlington (Lola McEvoy) and for Whitehaven and Workington (Josh MacAlister). In my constituency of Stockton North, men wait more than three months over the national average for treatment for mental health conditions—as do women; in fact, everyone does. Some form of talking therapy would really help with many conditions, which is why I want to take a moment to talk a bit about psychotherapy.

[Melanie Ward (Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy) (Lab)]

My hon. Friend mentioned men’s sheds. I was delighted to visit the Kirkcaldy men’s shed in my constituency recently to see the amazing work that the people there do. Listening to this debate, I have been struck by the positive changes that this Bill will bring, and by the contrast with Scotland. The people I speak to from almost every local service raise the issue of the mental health crisis across Fife, be they from the NHS, charities or the police. NHS Fife has asked for funding from the Scottish Government to sort out our mental health crisis and was told to not even ask. That is such a contrast with where we are in this place, and I am sure my hon. Friend agrees that action needs to be taken in Scotland and in Fife.

[Chris McDonald]

I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. It will not be very long before voters in Scotland have the opportunity to contrast the Scottish Government with what a Labour Government deliver, and hopefully they will chose the latter.

I mentioned psychotherapy. For a profession that has been around since the time of Freud, it is remarkably unregulated; there is no professional register, no form of legally enforceable complaint, and no way to ensure that someone found guilty of misconduct is stopped from practising. In fact, anyone can call themselves a therapist. In 2007, the previous Labour Government considered some form of regulation for therapists, and I encourage the Government to include such regulation in the Bill; it would be the ideal place for it. Since 2007, there has been a strong increase in private practice, and in legal cases arising from issues to do with psychotherapy. Of course, there are also online influencers. Professor Dame Til Wykes—an expert in this area—described them as “selling snake oil”. As my hon. Friend the Member for Southampton Itchen (Darren Paffey) mentioned, that is another reason why we need stronger safeguards and regulation of social media for children.

Essentially, an unqualified psychotherapist could do harm, but the issue is more likely to be the missed opportunity to do good—perhaps a failure to diagnose a more serious condition or, frankly, a missed chance to save somebody’s life. Regulation is supported by the profession. Chloe, a professional, urged me to raise this issue with the Secretary of State; I am doing that now, as he is in his place. This is an opportunity to restore confidence in the profession, and for us all to pick up where the last Labour Government left off.

As I say, half the men in a room will run out of it when mental health is mentioned. What is the answer to that? Graham gave me the answer: “Put a broken lawnmower in the middle of the floor. A big conversation will ensue, and two hours later, all the men will know each other’s names, and the names of each other’s families. They’ll have talked about how they are feeling and whether they are doing okay. You probably will not have a repaired lawnmower, but you will have lots of suggestions.” There is a good reason for that: men generally are not good speaking face to face, but they can speak shoulder to shoulder.