Prime Minister Boris Johnson gave a speech to the Conservative Party Conference today. Here's our Deputy CEO Brian Dow's response to the speech, after it emerged that there was no mention of mental health: 

“Since investment in mental health was lagging so far behind physical health before the pandemic started, failure to put the issue at the core of the government’s strategy going forward will have the opposite effect to levelling up for people living with mental illness. The absence of any mention of mental health in today’s speech was a worrying surprise.

“It would have also been good to hear the Prime Minister describe how the social care system can support people experiencing mental health problems – not least those that will struggle further as a result of the £20 cut to Universal Credit.

“Let’s trust these omissions are not reflections of broader government priorities.”