I’m pretty sure that the 1991 Labour manifesto was whispered to ickle foetus-Eve, via the belly button. I grew up with campaign posters in the bedroom windows, and under instructions that, if someone called Teresa Villiers (our Tory MP) came to the door holding a leaflet, you shut it in her face. My parents taught my brother, aged three, to ‘loudly ‘EW’ when Margaret Thatcher came on the telly. But just as much as my blood runs red, it says ‘Jewish’, too. So, given that my party’s leader ­– and some other key players – are intent in engaging in low-key anti-semitism, I’m not convinced about putting my cross in their box come general election day. Hence, like many British Jews, I find myself in political no man’s land.
So, what to do instead?

Well, as close to my heart as religious prejudice is anorexia, and other eating disorders. The current Tory Government pledged to invest £150 million into eating disorder care and treatment, and introduced mandatory waiting times of four weeks. But recent reports show that due to the postcode lottery phenomenon, patients in some areas are still waiting months on end. Then there’s adult treatment – usually somewhat of an after-thought when it comes to Government policy. There’s been no specific funding injection for adult eating disorder services, or the introduction of waiting time limits.

Meanwhile, adults face delays three times that of under 18s – up to three years, in fact. So who, out of this pile of political crap, can help? Here’s what they’re all offering. Read below and judge for yourself.

THE MONIES

An extra £1.6 billion per year into mental health services. £185 million annually to provide mental health counsellors in every British school (not clear if this funding comes from the above total).

PROS

• The only party to make specific mention of eating disorders within their manifesto, separate to other mental health problems. Their manifesto states: ‘Invest more in eating disorders services and ensure NICE guidelines on eating disorders are implemented’. In other words, they’ll enforce the four-week waiting time rule for children and young people.
• The party has also pledged to end inappropriate out-of-area admissions for eating disorders.
• Better access to psychological therapies as well as 24/7 crisis services for emergency cases.
• They also want to review the inner workings of the Mental Health Act, to make it more in the interests of safeguarding patients. For those of you who’ve been under a section order, this’ll be highly welcome.
• Modernising psychiatric hospital facilities. For someone who spent almost two months in a crumbling mental hospital, this is music to my ears.
• Free prescriptions for all
• Labour’s healthy eating policy is refreshing – focusing on restricting advertising of high salt/sugar/fat foods and fast-food restaurants near schools, rather than individual behaviours. They’ll make access to walking and cycling paths easier, as well as public transport to encourage day-to-day exercise.

 

CONS

• No SPECIFIC mention of ring-fenced funding for eating disorders; only mental health in general.
• Currently, there are no NICE guidelines that recommend waiting times for adults. So, although they may reinforce the rules in place for children, adults are left – once again – forgotten.
• A lot of big promises, but little that specifically addresses the disparity in funding between postcodes, inpatient vs outpatient treatment and adults vs children.
• They’re extending the sugar levy to milk-based drinks (recent reports show the sugar tax has been largely ineffective at reducing sugar consumption)

 

ANY MPs ON OUR SIDE?

Paula Sheriff, MP for Dewsbury and Shadow Minister for Mental Health and Social Care, is quite cool. She’s been very vocal about the injustices in the treatment of EDs, compared to other mental health problems. Apparently it’s an issue close to her heart, but clearly not close enough to force ring-fenced funding into her party’s manifesto…
Jeremy Corbyn said some inane, non-committal stuff about it once. You can read it here if you like – but I wouldn’t waste your time.

 

 

THE MONIES

Lib Dems would increase income tax by an extra penny on every pound earned – so you’d pay an extra one per cent tax on your salary. This would amount to £7 billion annually – split between health and social care. They say that a significant amount of this would be ring-fenced for mental health provisions – including eating disorders.

PROS

• The only party to mention increased funding for mental health research, rather than just treatment. Lib Dems say that mental health research will be seen as just as vital as physical health research.
• Introduce further waiting time standards for mental health treatment – priorities include children and young people and ‘services for people with eating disorders’.
• Committed to ‘early intervention’, aiming to reduce the number of patients in inpatient care.
• Extra training for teachers to help them identify mental health issues in schools.
• Lib Dems are the only party to specifically mention prevention of the ‘cliff edge’ that happens when young people transition from children to adult services.
• Increased access to a broader range of clinically-effective talking therapies.
• Similarly to Labour, Lib Dems want to implement the recommended changes to the Mental Health Act in order to protect the safety of patients.
• Free prescriptions for anyone with chronic mental health conditions

CONS

• Again, no specific funding dedicated to eating disorders.
• It’s not clear if the party will prioritise people of all ages with eating disorders, or if it will be a hierarchy, depending the on age of patient. Some clarity here would be nice Jo…
• Whilst the extra 1 per cent tax sounds like a great idea – and barely a pinch – it’s not ideal if you earn under £18k and are already struggling to make ends meet. I personally don’t see why those earning £100k should be privy to the same additional tax charge as people on minimum wage.
  But, that’s just me.
• The Lib Dems are extending the sugar tax to milk and juices – despite the fact that, technically, could include baby food. A small amount of juice is generally recommended by diet experts as an easy way to get ample vitamins and minerals – especially for those with little access to fresh fruit and veg.
• The Lib Dems will introduce calorie counts in restaurants and takeaways, as if those of us with ED needed another trigger.

 

ANY MPs ON OUR SIDE?

Wera Hobhouse (yes, real name), MP for Bath, has tabled a motion about improving access to treatment and argued for a more inclusive diagnosis of eating disorders.  She’s also a very vocal member of the all-party parliamentary group on the issue. Sadly, the two Lib Dems most vocal about their support for eating disorder treatment – Norman Lamb and Tim Farrow – are no longer standing as MPs.

 

THE MONIES

£6 billion annually for the entire NHS.

 

PROS

• The Green Party pledge to put mental health on an equal footing with physical health.
• The party pledges that everyone who needs mental health therapies will access it within 28 days of presenting to their doctor.
• The Greens will reverse the partial privatisation of the NHS – i.e win the provisions back from private companies such as The Priory.

 

CONS

• No specific mention of eating disorders whatsoever, or adults vs children and adolescent provision, or urgently-needed emergency crisis care.
• It’s not clear where the Greens stand on funding for research for mental health problems, either.

 

ANY MPs ON OUR SIDE

Not that I know of – hmu if there’s someone I’m missing…

 

 

THE MONIES

Over the next five years, the tories will raise NHS funds by a third. That works out as an extra £650 million per week. The Govt will continue to implement their long-term plan, which, they say, equates to roughly an extra £2.3 billion a year by 2023-2024.

PROS

• Continued pledge to implement waiting times for young people’s eating disorder services (limits of four weeks), as well as ring-fenced funding of an extra £2.3billion annually.
• Pledge to extend current service models for mental health treatments for under-18s to the age of 25, to reduce the ‘cliff edge’ of care between CAMHS and adults.
• Within the first three months of Govt, the two above promises will be enshrined into law.
• Pledge to protect children from online bullying and abuse.
• 40 new hospitals to be built across the UK, many of which would specialise in the treatment of mental illness.

 

CONS

 

• Whilst the Government has said they’ll aim to improve waiting times for adults with eating disorders, it’s unclear how exactly they plan to do this, given that NICE guidelines only relate to children.
• The increased funding into children’s eating disorder services has supposedly been ‘in action’ since 2016. Yet, there’s still significant problems with accessing treatment for young people, due to differences in provisions between local areas.
• No mention of renovating our current psychiatric hospitals, or extra support for crisis teams.

 

ANY MPS ON OUR SIDE?

Scottish Tory MP Kirstene Hair has pushed the four week referral times during several parliamentary debates, but tends to go quiet outside of the chambers. Also, if you’re not Scottish, she’s pretty irrelevant.

 

SO WHO THE F**K DO I VOTE FOR?

I’m afraid that’s a question I can’t answer for you. (Just not the Brexit Party plz).