What will I do if elected? 1 – Introduce a mental health rep position on the Young Labour national committee 2 – Create a mental health charter for all Young Labour groups and CLPs to sign 3 – Join up with the Labour Campaign for Mental Health to help fight Tory cuts to youth mental health services and actively combat stigma within Young Labour 4 - Create an anti-bullying charter to ensure no Young Labour member feels targeted or isolated within out movement Jeremy Corbyn has done some fantastic things since becoming the leader of the Labour Party and his focus on mental health has been welcomed. Young Labour must follow Jeremy’s lead and put ourselves at the front of the battle to end mental health stigma and practices which discriminate against those with mental health problems within and outside of our party. We must fight the underfunding and devastating cuts being made by this Tory government to mental health services and holding them to account on their promises around additional funding, especially to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). In September I was elected to Labour’s National Policy Forum as the youth rep for the North West and I recently had an email informing me I had been allocated to the Health and Care Policy Commission also sat on by numerous NEC reps and MPs such as Luciana Berger and Emma Reynolds. Young members must be listened to within these policy commissions on policy and I want to ensure I put young members are the forefront of all of the work I do within that, especially on tackling mental health stigma. If elected to the NEC I will be able to actively change Young Labour to fight cuts to mental health services and ensure our own practices accommodate those with mental health problems. Firstly, if elected I will create a Mental Health Rep position on the National Young Labour committee to work with the disability officer and fight for better internal practices in the party with regards to dealing with mental health and campaigning on mental health issues including stigma and funding cuts. This would be following Jeremy’s lead after he introduced a Shadow Minister for Mental Health into the shadow cabinet giving those with mental health issues a voice. Secondly, I will work with the Labour Campaign for Mental Health to create a charter that all CLPs and Young Labour groups should sign. During a tough election campaign members can often feel obliged to be on the doorstep day in, day out. Those with mental health issues like depression or anxiety can find it difficult to live up to the expectation of being the ‘perfect campaigner’, myself included. This exhausts our activists and makes them feel as though all they are is foot soldiers ready to be disposed of outside of election times. My aim is for this charter to encourage all CLPs and Young Labour groups to be aware of the issues those with mental health problems face in terms of involvement in campaigning and other aspects within our party and commit to creating a mental health friendly party. As mentioned, the Labour Campaign for Mental Health has already done fantastic work within our party from running stalls and events at conference and across the country to doing the ‘my story’ awareness campaign which had many party members sharing their stories and experiences of mental health. If elected I want to ensure Young Labour is working with the LCMH to create a more inclusive youth wing and give our members the tools to lead the fight on tackling mental health stigma and funding cuts in wider society. Debate within our party is positive and healthy, but when that 'debate' becomes personal and leaves people feeling like they don't want to be involved then we must look at ourselves. Every young member should be able to voice their opinions without being worried of a backlash and no one should be feel left out because they don't belong to a faction. I will work with Young Labour groups to create an anti-bullying charter within our party to ensure debate never turns personal. Last year a member of Conservative Future took his own life due to internal party bullying and we must ensure that Young Labour takes action to ensure no member is left feeling bullied out of Labour. I want Young Labour to pinoeer the great work that Jeremy Corbyn and Luciana Berger have already done on mental health awareness and ensure our party is accessible to every young member across our movement! #Jas4NEC #YL16
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AuthorJasmin Beckett Archives
June 2017
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