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South Holland and the Deepings MP Sir John Hayes supports the Suicide Prevention Strategy




Sir John Hayes tackles the topic of suicide – and gives his support to a new strategy that aims to address the issue...

The importance of mental health is recognised much more than it was formally. Yet, though the scale and prominence of the psychiatric and psychological problems, are better known, too often the issue remains a taboo.

Suicide is spoken of with even greater reluctance.

Latest figures show that 90 people have committed suicide in the last ten years in South Holland
Latest figures show that 90 people have committed suicide in the last ten years in South Holland

Which is why I welcome the Suicide Prevention Strategy published by the Government last month. It sets out steps to be taken over the next five years to address tragedies affecting around 16 men in every 100,000 people. Three quarters of those who decide to take their own lives are men – the equivalent figure for women is five in 100,000.

Amongst those with mental health issues, men are three times as likely to become dependent on alcohol and more likely to use and die from illegal drugs. Despite this, only a third of those referred to psychological therapists are male.

Having learned much over many years about this issue, including from Vanessa Browning, the founder of Spalding’s Community Mind Matters, who has done such good work locally, I support strongly the fresh approach being taken by ministers.

South Holland and the Deepings MP Sir John Hayes
South Holland and the Deepings MP Sir John Hayes

Prevention depends on identifying warning signs and acting upon them. So, early intervention is at the core of the new strategy, with an emphasis on what more can be done by the Government, the NHS, wider local and public services, businesses and community groups to prevent people getting to a point where they are contemplating ending life by their own hand.

Even when it is too late for early intervention to anticipate tragedy, timely and effective action can be taken to save lives. Funding of £150 million for urgent crisis care has been committed by the Government, alongside policies designed to reduce access to the materials and methods of suicide. Wherever the devastating loss of life cannot be prevented, greater support for those whose hearts are broken by bereavement will now be available.

A core tenet of this valuable new strategy is the Online Safety Bill. This Bill seeks to regulate greedy tech giants who are failing their users by allowing harmful and malicious content to erode vulnerable individuals’ sense of dignity and self-worth.

Whistleblowing leaks by Frances Haugen last year revealed Mr Zuckerberg’s Meta – the company behind Facebook – to be a business fully aware of the damage it does to the mental health of its users, whether they be adults or children.

It is deeply shocking that, amongst the internet’s many harms, sinister algorithms not only reflect distress by reporting suicide, but actually encourage it!

Which is why the Online Safety Bill, that I played a part in strengthening, is central in this new Suicide Prevention Strategy. It will prevent senior managers at ‘Big Tech’ conglomerates from washing their hands of the damage they do by making them legally responsible for dangerous content.

Disturbing, illegal or violent content is being targeted at impressionable users – especially children – by algorithms, created by people who should know better. Whatever their originators purport, some make vulnerable individuals more likely to contemplate and commit suicide.

The new Strategy encourages closer cooperation between the Government and internet companies to ensure that they provide supportive environments for their users. Yet whatever cooperation may yield, it is plain that harmful content should be taken down and those who perpetuate it held to account.

The prevention of the tragedy of suicide should concern us all, as the precious lives of too many young men in particular are cut short. For what harms any of us harms all of us.



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