'Lunatics' ban in Parliament may be lifted
LONDON, July 20 (UPI) -- British government officials say they are considering doing away with laws banning people labeled "idiots" and "lunatics" from running for Parliament.Justice Minister Bridget Prentice plans to hold a meeting to discuss throwing out the laws after they prompted negative feedback from members of Parliament and mental health organizations, The Times of London reported Sunday.
The rules consider idiots as people "incapable of gaining reason" and lunatics as those "capable of periods of lucidity."
The laws prevent lunatics from standing for Parliament in "their non-lucid intervals." People listed under the Mental Health Act are not allowed to seek election, regardless of whether they recover.
Some mental health charity groups say the laws are unfair and should be scrapped.
"People who have suffered mental health problems can function at a very high level," said a spokesman for Mind, a mental health charity.
JimBobby
2 comments:
Perhaps you might have predicted I'd stop by JimBobby? :-)
The problem with mental health labeling is that, as with "beauty is in the eye of the beholder," so "mental illness is in the eye of the 'mental health professional'."
Alas, unlike most segments of the acute care industry, the mental health industry is self-perpetuating: it alone has the power to identify/determine/stipulate who is mentally ill and who is not. Convenient, yes?
So let's ignore mental health/illness labels, since they've been imposed by those whose self-interest, indeed livelihood, is served by such labeling. Instead, let's leave it up to the voters, constituency associations, parties, etc. through whose vetting the "numbnutses", "nutbars" and "nincompoops" shall be summarily dismissed as unqualified to hold office.
people "incapable of gaining reason" and "capable of periods of lucidity."... sounds like an accurate description of most politicians:)
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