Labour says Britain owes a debt to the lockdown generation which has seen its future “cut off at the knees,” with the shadow health secretary pledging to improve mental health services to children and young people.
“The pandemic was the only time in our history that the lives, liberties and livelihoods of the young have been sacrificed to protect the elderly,” Mr. Streeting wrote.
Pinpointing a connection between the effects of lockdown and worsening mental health of the young, he continued: “Perhaps most damaging of all, young people saw their mental health corrupted by lockdown. Teenage boys in particular are not seeing their mental wellbeing return to normal as they mature. We surely do not yet know the true scale of the damage done to our children.”
Mental Health a ‘Second Pandemic’
Labour’s manifesto, published on Thursday, says a mental health “epidemic” is “paralysing” lives, particularly those of children and young people.The manifesto says by providing access to specialist mental health professionals in every school, earlier invention would “address problems before they escalate.”
The party has also pledged to tackle the “shamefully” long waiting lists that young people are sitting on as they wait to be referred to mental health support on the NHS. Labour say they would bring waiting times down by recruiting an additional 8,500 staff to treat children and adults in their first term in government—funded by “closing tax loopholes.”
Mr. Streeting visited a men’s mental health charity in Wakefield on Friday to discuss Labour’s plan to tackle the crisis in mental illness. The party acknowledged the rise in mental health problems is also impacting Britain’s workforce and costing the UK billions, saying its measures will help “get people back to work.”
Parties Largely Silent on Economic Fallout of Lockdowns
Apart from Mr. Streeting’s reference to the impact on the mental health of children, discourse on the fallout of COVID-19 lockdowns has been largely absent from political discourse during the election campaign, especially the economic repercussions.Additionally, the Bank of England implemented significant monetary measures during lockdowns, including a £450 billion expansion of its quantitative easing programme.
All of these measures were supported by the major political parties in Opposition, along with the government.