The Tories have smashed up the country so much, there’s little confidence that anyone can do better. That’s dangerous for Labour
Everyone will have their own moment when they concluded that things were broken, but here’s mine. I was talking to the headteacher of an east London primary school who told me of a pupil who had attempted suicide three times. The head had sought urgent intervention from a range of services, but had had no luck. The services all said they were simply too stretched to help.
I can’t shake that story. I’m haunted by the notion of a child so young and in such distress that they wanted to take their own life. But I think too of the state of our country, where the safety net that should catch such a child is so frayed and torn it is no longer there. Because we all know it’s not just this one area – mental health provision for young people – that’s in a parlous state. The damage is everywhere.
