19th April 2024

Responding to the Prime Minister’s speech on welfare reform, Billy Watson, Chief Executive of SAMH (Scottish Action for Mental Health), said:

“People with mental health problems will not be helped into work by stigmatising language or punitive welfare reforms. The Prime Minister’s speech is an argument to treat people with mental health problems more sceptically and less favourably than people with other types of condition. It flies in the face of giving parity to mental and physical health problems, and seems to propose treating people with mental health problems with suspicion by default.

“People with mental health problems will be best helped into work by giving them proper support in terms of both treatment and a social security safety net which reduces, rather than increases, stress and anxiety.”