Suicide: Reducing the Stigma

Josh Newbury Excerpts

Wednesday 19th November 2025 Westminster Hall

[Josh Newbury (Cannock Chase) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to see you in the Chair, Mr Mundell. I thank the hon. Member for Richmond Park (Sarah Olney) for securing the debate, and I thank hon. Members for their powerful speeches and interventions.

I start by wishing everybody a happy International Men’s Day. It is a great opportunity to reflect on the contributions made by men and boys, and a chance to talk seriously about men’s mental health and wellbeing. All of which, I hope we will continue to do tomorrow in the Backbench Business debate on International Men’s Day, which I have the honour of leading this year. I hope all hon. Members who are able to will join us.

One issue we cannot shy away from is suicide. As we have heard, it remains one of the leading causes of death for men under 50, which is a heartbreaking and unacceptable reality. This morning, as I scrolled through Instagram, I came across a video of Clarke Carlisle speaking to the Health Secretary. He said something that struck me deeply:

“There is no situation that is irretrievable other than a completed suicide.”

That is a powerful reminder that every moment before crisis is a moment when a life can still be saved.

That is something I can relate to personally, as I have suffered throughout my life with mental ill health and probably always will. In the past, I have felt that the world would be a better place without me. I will be honest and say that has been the case even in the past 12 months. I have not said that out loud to many people, but in debates like this, I think we should be as open as possible in the hope that it helps others and shows that mental ill health and suicide can touch all of us, no matter what position we are in or what walk of life we come from.

As always, our NHS is there to care for us in our most desperate moments and to help us recover, but for so many, that is sadly not the reality when it comes to mental health. That is why I am proud that today the Government have published the first ever mental health strategy. I wholeheartedly welcome it and think we should be very proud of it. In particular, I welcome the commitment of £3.6 million over three years for suicide prevention projects that are focused on middle-aged men, particularly those in the most deprived communities where the risks are highest; the partnership with the Premier League and the Samaritans, through the Together Against Suicide initiative, which will embed mental health messaging directly into the matchday experience, where many men already feel at home; and the expansion of mental health teams in schools, so that nearly 1 million more young people will have access to early support by 2026.

I particularly commend the Government’s approach of involving the Premier League, because we must do everything we can to reach out to men who have previously felt isolated from discussions around mental health. Let us face it: those discussions can sometimes feel too full of expectation and pressure or can be too medicalised, rather than meeting men where they are by using language and settings with which they already feel comfortable and familiar. The reality is that, for many, it is hard to be a man in today’s society. Many men feel overwhelmed by stress, financial pressures and expectations of being a provider, a protector and a pillar of strength. They feel as though they are failing in those roles, not because they are failing as men but because the structures around them have stopped giving them support.

This morning, I went to a briefing from More in Common, which has produced a fantastic report on how men across the country are feeling. It told us that nine in 10 disillusioned men feel that politicians do not care about places like theirs; seven in 10 believe that no matter how hard they work, they will never be able to improve their circumstances; some feel that they no longer have any good friends to rely on; and many do not feel proud of their community. Many men feel that debates about masculinity and gender cast them as the problem, never just as people trying to get by in life and partners in building a better society.

That matters for suicide prevention because a man who feels he has no control over his life, who feels isolated and that he is failing the people he loves, is a man who is more vulnerable to crisis. The path to suicide often begins not with one traumatic moment but with a long erosion of purpose, belonging and hope. That is why we must continue to promote male-focused approaches to building positive attitudes towards mental health to help to restore a sense of a man’s role in society and to create spaces and conversations about wellbeing that genuinely work for men.

That is one of the many reasons why initiatives such as men’s sheds, Andy’s Man Club and Stand By Me, which is a local group in my constituency, have been so effective. In the world of farming, the Farm Safety Foundation does incredible work through its Yellow Wellies campaign. I only wish that our farmers did not have the dark cloud of the proposed changes to inheritance tax hanging over them.

Many men describe support groups as feeling like a family and a community where they can be honest and hear someone say, “It’s not just you,” and “You’re not alone.” If we want to reduce the stigma associated with suicide, we must recognise that mental health is not isolated from everything else in a man’s life. Financial security matters, sense of belonging matters, community matters and conversation matters. Men need spaces where they feel safe to talk long before they reach a crisis point.

Strength is not found in silence, and courage is not found in pretending that everything is fine. I hope that we can continue this conversation and make today’s International Men’s Day the start of a really positive set of actions, so that men do not reach that irreversible point of crisis.

Oral Answers to Questions

Josh Newbury Excerpts

Tuesday 21st October 2025 Commons Chamber

[Karin Smyth]

As he often does, the hon. Gentleman highlights in his own very rural constituency some of the fundamental problems at the heart of our NHS. That is why we are reforming it, ensuring that we move hospital services from hospitals into the community and developing neighbourhood health services. We are also looking at the financial flows in the system that lead to these sorts of perverse incentives and funding arrangements, which do damage to his constituents, as they do to many others and to rural and coastal communities. That is why we highlighted that in the 10-year plan. We need to see the end of such examples.

[Josh Newbury (Cannock Chase) (Lab)]

15. What steps he is taking to ensure that women have access to menopause treatments on the NHS.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Dr Zubir Ahmed)]

We have already made excellent progress, turning commitments in the women’s health strategy into tangible action. We are delivering 5.2 million extra appointments, which includes tackling gynaecology waiting lists. We know, though, that more needs to be done for women experiencing the menopause and on improving awareness and access to treatment. Menopause Mandate has long campaigned, alongside many Members in this House, for the menopause to be included in the NHS health check. I hope to be able to say more soon, but rest assured that we have heard those calls.

[Josh Newbury]

Earlier this year, a constituent came to speak to me about shortages of the one hormone replacement therapy drug that was working for her after years of misdiagnoses and ineffective treatment. She told me that GPs have very low awareness of menopause and often recommend alternatives that cause adverse reactions, leaving her and many other women paying for private advice and treatment and taking time off work. Will the Minister update the House on what the Department is doing to address HRT shortages and to improve training for GPs so that millions of women get the support that they need?

[Dr Ahmed]

I thank my hon. Friend for highlighting this crucial issue. The majority of the more than 70 HRT products are in good supply, but we are aware of shortages affecting certain estradiol patches, and we are engaging with suppliers to expedite deliveries wherever we can. We have issued guidance to healthcare professionals under the serious shortage protocols methodology to enable community pharmacists to supply alternatives where appropriate. Furthermore, we are committed to funding research into women’s health, and we have invested approximately £5 million through the National Institute for Health and Care Research scheme into menopause research, including studies for new treatments to improve outcomes for women experiencing the menopause.

Eating Disorders: Prevention of Deaths

Josh Newbury Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd September 2025 Westminster Hall

[Josh Newbury (Cannock Chase) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Sir Desmond. I would like to draw on the time that I spent working at the brilliant Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership trust. That part of my career still has a huge impact on me and what I do in this place. In particular, I would like to focus on T1DE, or type 1 diabetes with disordered eating—a dangerous, often fatal condition that combines the comorbidities of type 1 diabetes with an eating disorder. Sufferers often stop insulin in order to lose weight, often coupled with well-known symptoms of disordered eating, such as obsession with nutritional information, binging and purging, and the use of laxatives. Consequences can be incredibly severe, including bone loss, blindness, amputations and even death.

The condition can sometimes be seen as niche, but actually 100,000 people in this country are sufferers of T1DE, including a staggering 40% of women and girls with type 1 diabetes. Because it sits at the intersection of physical and mental health, historically T1DE services just have not existed and many people have been bounced between different consultants. To their credit, the previous Government realised that and set up pilot sites for T1DE services, but, sadly, some of those closed last year. In response to calls from across the House, the Government extended the funding for the remaining pilots by 12 months, but now we once again face their closure in April 2026. I hope the Minister can give us some assurances on that, because T1DE specialist services are a literally matter of life and death for people suffering with this rare eating disorder.

Spending Review: Health and Social Care

Josh Newbury Excerpts

Thursday 12th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Josh Newbury (Cannock Chase) (Lab)]

This investment is so welcome, because my constituents in Cannock Chase have been struggling to access urgent care between their GP and accident and emergency since our hospital’s minor injuries unit was temporarily closed in March 2020. Despite the welcome investment in Rawnsley surgery, Chadsmoor medical practice and Red Lion surgery in my constituency, our ICB plans to kibosh any hope of our MIU reopening. Does the Minister agree that this Government’s huge investment in our NHS needs to be felt in the parts of the country, such as my towns and villages, that were so badly let down by the Conservatives? Will she meet me to discuss the worrying urgent care reform proposals for Staffordshire?

[Karin Smyth]

I thank my hon. Friend for welcoming the extra support for GP and primary care. I am sure he understands from our urgent and emergency care plan that we have a number of arrangements for making sure that people are seen urgently in local community settings. It is for local ICBs to decide on the best way, within that urgent emergency care plan, for people to be seen locally and treated within the available resources. I am happy to meet him, perhaps at an upcoming surgery, to discuss that further.

Type 1 Diabetes and Disordered Eating Services

Josh Newbury Excerpts

Wednesday 5th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Josh Newbury (Cannock Chase) (Lab)]

It is a privilege to have secured a debate on a chronic but often misunderstood condition that affects many people across our country: the correlation between type 1 diabetes and disordered eating, known as “T1DE” for short. Separately, those two conditions are well-known and well documented, but together they exacerbate one another and can, in extreme cases, become a life sentence.

On an individual level, type 1 diabetes is a chronic autoimmune condition characterised by the pancreas being unable to produce insulin, meaning that those with the condition are required to carefully monitor their blood glucose levels and administer insulin. As we know, that delicate balance demands constant attention. Many of us have the luxury of going out for dinner and choosing a meal based on what we like the sound of—shamefully, in my case, often with too little thought to the sugar content, calories or how the body will digest it. For those with type 1 diabetes, however, that blissful ignorance simply is not an option. For them, life revolves around counting carbohydrates, monitoring blood sugar levels and injecting insulin. It is relentless. To put that into numbers, a child diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of five faces up to 19,000 injections and 50,000 finger-prick blood tests by the time they are 18. Every moment of every day is a balancing act between food, activity and insulin.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I commend the hon. Gentleman for securing the debate. I spoke to him outside the Chamber and he knows exactly what I am going to say. I have been a type 2 diabetic for almost 20 years, and I understand very well the fact that monitoring food intake is part and parcel of daily life. For those who suffer from an eating disorder, the constant food noise needs to be addressed by a professional, but diabetic clinics do not have the resources to deal with that. Does he agree that we need mental health support links for diabetics throughout the United Kingdom?

[Josh Newbury]

It is a pleasure to take my first intervention from the hon. Gentleman. I pay tribute to him for his campaigning on this issue and the personal experience that he brings to the House. I will come later in my speech to my experience of mental health services. I absolutely agree that we need to ensure that people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes have all the support they need for their mental health and managing their condition.

For some, type 1 diabetes morphs into a the deeper challenge of disordered eating—it is not difficult to see how that can happen. Given the strict attention to diet and nutritional information that type 1 diabetes necessitates, unhealthily restrictive and avoidant approaches to food can sometimes, at least to begin with, be indistinguishable from healthy diabetes management. As we know, in some cases, one side effect of insulin-based treatment can be weight gain. That leads some people with type 1 diabetes to realise that by restricting their insulin intake, or even stopping it altogether, they can essentially eat what they like and lose weight. However, the medical consequences of that are stark, including kidney problems, bone wastage, amputations, blindness and even death.

One of the most insidious aspects of T1DE is how difficult it can be to identify until its devastating consequences for both physical and mental health begin to manifest themselves. People suffering with T1DE often say that the isolation that comes with trying to navigate both a chronic illness and disordered eating is unimaginable for anyone who has not experienced it.

[Sarah Bool (South Northamptonshire) (Con)]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for securing this debate. As someone with type 1 diabetes, having been diagnosed only four years ago I completely understand the feeling of isolation just from having diabetes, let alone having to deal with disordered eating as well. Does he agree that we need to destigmatise both conditions, so that we can ensure the right support for patients?

[Josh Newbury]

I completely agree with the hon. Lady, and I thank her for the lived experience that she brings to this House, and for how candid she has been in sharing her experiences. I could not agree with her more.

Many people are falling through the cracks of a system that often fails to recognise the unique needs of people who live with both type 1 diabetes and disordered eating. While disordered eating in those with type 1 diabetes is sometimes referred to as “niche” or “rare”, it is becoming increasingly clear that it is simply under-recognised, and it is often missed. Evidence suggests that up to 40% of women and girls, and up to 15% of men and boys with type 1 diabetes experience some form of disordered eating. That is a quarter of the 400,000 people in the UK with type 1 diabetes.

[Alex McIntyre (Gloucester) (Lab)]

My hon. Friend makes the important point that this issue affects so many people. I have direct experience with a family member who had type 1 diabetes and what, back then, was referred to as diabulimia. They could not get support because the medical profession did not accept that it was a condition. Does my hon. Friend agree that part of tackling this issue is recognising its impact on families across the country, as that is the first step to ensuring that people get the support they need?

[Josh Newbury]

I agree with my hon. Friend. We need far better awareness of this condition, and better support for people affected and their families—I will come on to that a little later in my remarks.

As my hon. Friend said, a key issue we still face is the absence of internationally recognised criteria for T1DE, which hampers accurate diagnosis and classification, as well as collaboration and research. Within our NHS, pockets of fantastic practice have existed for a long time, but overall the current system often does not take account of the unique challenges faced by people with T1DE. Eating disorder specialists might lack the necessary understanding of diabetes management, while diabetes care teams may not be fully equipped to deal with the psychological aspects of eating disorders. The gap in knowledge and siloing of services means that people with T1DE sometimes come up against exclusion criteria and will end up disengaging from services at a critical point in their condition.

The need for joined-up, bespoke services is where the five NHS England T1DE pilot sites come in. Those trailblazing projects are combining diabetes and eating disorder support into one service, helping people to recover faster from T1DE and reducing repeated hospital admissions. That is where my interest in T1DE comes in, because in a past life I worked in the communications team at the Coventry and Warwickshire partnership NHS trust. When it was selected as one of the second wave of pilot sites, I had the privilege of working on preparations for the launch of the new service. Although I sadly moved on before the service was launched, that was a highlight of my years working for our NHS. What I learned about T1DE in those few months has stayed with me, as has the expertise and dedication of Dr Tony Winston and his team at the Aspen centre in Warwick, which is to be commended.

I pay tribute to CWPT and all the pilot sites for the pioneering work they have done to develop these services from the ground up, co-designing them with patients who at last are being heard and treated. Diabetes UK told me that it supported NHS England in the development of those pilots, and it is calling for long-term funding to ensure that best practice is shared and, most importantly, that support is offered by those services on a sustainable footing.

[Tom Collins (Worcester) (Lab)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this important debate. Type 1 diabetes is incredibly demanding to live with. It is a game of numbers, and as such it can be greatly helped by technology, which is developing rapidly. I wish to put on the record how important it is that the Government ensure universal access to such transformative technology for all who are insulin dependent with diabetes. Even if someone’s iPhone can be their pancreas, type 1 diabetes is unique in its constant psychological demands. It invades people’s lives socially as well as practically, with the result that type 1 diabetes combined with disordered eating is a perfect storm. Does my hon. Friend agree that it is important that we provide not just practical but emotional support that is integrated not just around an individual but also the family, to provide for the severe depths of need for this complex condition?

[Josh Newbury]

I completely agree with my hon. Friend’s comments on the need for technological advancement. I will come on to support for the family a little later in my comments, but it is critical to have a support network around people with T1DE.

To the credit of the last Government, they recognised the need for T1DE-specific services, but they allowed the initial two pilots, in Bournemouth and London, to close in April last year. Those of us who are members of the all-party parliamentary group on diabetes have heard stories about patients who have suffered as a result of that cliff edge.

Having inherited a highly uncertain and unfunded position, I very much welcome the Government’s recent announcement of a 12-month extension to the ongoing pilots. That will ensure sufficient patient numbers and, more importantly, safeguard vital services where they already exist. I encourage the Department of Health and Social Care to seek additional investment through the spending review. Now that services have been up and running for over two years, our focus should turn to building up to a national offer, so that people with T1DE in parts of the country like Staffordshire can benefit for the first time.

Another vital effort will be raising awareness of T1DE, particularly within general practice and eating disorder services, to ensure that people with both conditions receive tailored care. This is a call not solely for increased training for healthcare professionals, but for greater recognition of the issue within the system as a whole. The King’s Fund and Centre for Mental Health report, “Long-term conditions and mental health: the cost of co-morbidities”, shows that complications stemming from mental health illnesses in people with long-term physical illnesses increases the cost of care by an average of 45%.

In June 2022, a parliamentary inquiry into T1DE was launched. It was very ably co-chaired by Theresa May and Sir George Howarth, both then Members of this House. I acknowledge the work of the hon. Member for Harrogate and Knaresborough (Tom Gordon), who I have known for many years, who co-wrote the inquiry’s report during his time working for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, now Breakthrough T1D. The inquiry gathered evidence from experts, those with lived experience, researchers and voluntary sector leaders.

The report was launched in January last year and the key findings included the need for international diagnosis criteria, updated National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines, the continuation of funding so that pilot sites can become centres of excellence, better data sharing, and a T1DE peer support offer to reach every corner of the country. I urge the Government to look at increasing awareness and training, particularly to give families and carers the tools and support they need to be able to play their part in early intervention and treatment pathways, as hon. Friends have mentioned.

Diabetes UK is currently funding a research project into the prevention of T1DE in children. It will test out an intervention designed to help parents and carers recognise signs of unhealthy eating behaviours. There is a lot of great work going on for us to build on.

To conclude, I thank those running the NHS pilot projects for all their work, Breakthrough T1D and Diabetes UK for the briefings they have given me, and all the Members who have contributed to the debate. We must do everything we can to support people with type 1 diabetes and disordered eating. The issue is not small or rare, and it deserves our attention in this place. By raising awareness, integrating services and providing support for families, we can help people overcome T1DE and lead healthier, happier lives.