Tories and Lib-Dems attack mental health shake-up

The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats today joined forces to oppose the Government's "wholly unacceptable" mental health reforms.

The Mental Health Bill will allow doctors to detain mentally ill people against their will even if they have not committed a crime. Ministers say the measure is necessary to keep the public safe from psychiatric patients who refuse treatment.

But Norman Lamb, the Lib-Dem health spokesman, said: "This Bill is wholly unacceptable. It undermines the civil liberties of people with mental health problems and it is contrary to the public interest."

The Bill was heavily defeated in the Lords two months ago when peers said that doctors would only be allowed to detain patients if there was a clear therapeutic benefit.

The Lib-Dems and the Conservatives will use the second reading of the Bill in the Commons this evening to insist that the Lords' amendments remain.

Tory shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley said that one in five mental health beds had been cut since 1997 even though ministers wanted to detain more patients.

He added: "While the number of people sectioned has hit its highest level in history, the NHS financial crisis is forcing the closure of mental health beds throughout the country."