Former Labour MP Luciana Berger is making a comeback in the party to lead its mental health strategy review – five years after she quit over antisemitism within its ranks.
Ms Berger was one of seven MPs to resign back in February 2019 amid anger over Jeremy Corbyn’s handling of antisemitism complaints, saying she was “leaving behind a culture of bullying, bigotry and intimidation”.
She rejoined Labour last year in what was seen as a win for Sir Keir Starmer, who had promised to “tear out antisemitism by its roots” when he took over as leader.
But now the former shadow minister for mental health and chair of the Maternal Mental Health Alliance will play a lead role in one of Labour’s key strategies ahead of the next election.
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“With Keir Starmer’s leadership, Labour has turned a significant corner,” Ms Berger said. “I am delighted to be back working with my party and helping Labour deliver the change our country really needs.”
Sir Keir added: “I am proud to welcome Luciana back. The Labour Party has changed beyond recognition since she was forced out, and we will be a richer party for having her working with us again.”
Speaking on stage at a Jewish Labour Movement conference on Sunday, alongside Ms Berger, the leader added: “We will never let antisemitism sneak back into the Labour Party under cover. I see no greater cause in my leadership than this. This is my role.
“I have [brought] my party away from the abyss, and I will never let Britain go anywhere near there either. This country will be safe for you and your children.”
Labour says its strategy review will look into how each government department can help with its objectives to prevent mental ill-health, recruit 8,500 mental health professionals, provide mental health support in schools and put mental health hubs into communities – all paid for by scrapping tax breaks for private equity and private schools.
It will also seek to achieve its goal of reversing the rising trend of lives lost to suicide with five years.
As part of this latter aim, Sir Keir announced plans on Sunday for specialist training for mental health professionals to support people who self harm – with NHS figures showing the number of children being admitted to hospital for self-harm had more than doubled since 2011.
The statistics also showed the rate of registered suicides among teenagers aged between 15 and 19 had increased by nearly two-thirds.
Sir Keir said: “Almost all of us can think of someone who has tragically lost their life to suicide. Too many families are being ripped apart by grief after losing a loved one to suicide. It is a raw pain – that fact alone should shock us all into action.
“Prevention is at the heart of my mission-led approach to tackling the urgent challenges our country faces.”
He added: “Through mental health support in every school in England, early-intervention hubs in every community, and 8,500 specially trained new staff to drive down waiting times my Labour government will drive down the rate of suicide and drive down the number of families facing anguish.”
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Ms Berger said: “Millions of people are experiencing poor mental health, without the necessary support to recover.
“The absence of a proper plan to address the causes of poor mental health requires urgent attention.
“Labour’s commitment to deliver a cross-government long-term strategy to tackle mental ill-health is an important step towards gripping this issue, and I am really excited to be leading this work.”
If you need support with your mental health, call the Samaritans for free on 116 123. Support is available 24 hours a day.