Ministers are totally complacent about getting people back to work:

📈 Unemployment is rising
🏥 People out of work for sickness at a record high
🇬🇧 the only G7 country with lower employment rate than pre-pandemic

🧵👇 Conservatives have claimed their skills bootcamps will get help get older people back into work.

But our research showed that only 5% of places on these schemes actually go to people over 55.

1. Today is #WorldMentalHealthDay. A chance to talk about mental health & how we can better support good mental health. 
 
The past 18 months have impacted the country's mental health like never before. The number of people contacting the NHS for support is at a record high. 🧵 2. But thousands of people are going without the mental health support they need. Services are stretched, under-resourced and under-funded. 
 
There is just 1 psychiatrist working in the NHS for every 12,500 people.
news.sky.com/story/one-psyc…

1. UNICEF warn ‘children are not the face of this pandemic. But they risk being amongst its biggest victims.’

Children are missing social interaction & play. Learning is not the same.

It’s our priority especially in #ChildrensMentalHealthWeek that every child’s health matters. 2. While children’s health has long been one of my top priorities, I am more worried than ever about how tough things are for young people today. As a parent I’m struck by how often my own children ask “when will coronavirus end?”
#ChildrensMentalHealthWeek

1. Last night I finished #ItsASin @russelldavies63, the director, amazing cast have given us a beautiful gift with #ItsASin. The 80s music, the politics, the friendship. Perfect. Fun but also serious. By episode 3 (no spoilers) I was in bits. Tears continued until the end #La 2. I’ve never worried sex could result in a death sentence. Even as the child of an alcoholic, have never had that sense of loneliness, nor fear of dying alone. Nor had my life stigmatised. While HIV can affect everyone, #ItsASin demonstrates why it lives in the LGBT experience

1. Its welcome there is Boris Johnson press conference. I totally understand the need for the restrictions announced last night - the ONS estimates infections are rising, we’re seeing a resurgence in Europe, we have the highest excess deaths in Europe & ministers were too slow. 2. But the way in which you restrictions were announced has caused confusion, upset and anxiety. In a pandemic we need clarity from ministers not muddle. At the Press Conferenve Johnson should explain:

1. Labour called for the lockdown. We were concerned social distancing measures were not being adhered to. We will continue to argue easing of restrictions must be done gradually with caution and safely. 2. This virus hasn’t gone away, it could easily get out of control again. While we are past peak we still have thousands of cases daily and as the Deputy CMO indicated yesterday we still don’t fully understand why.

1. Labour called for the lockdown but we’ve always warned it was a blunt tool unless we used this time to develop a testing, isolate and trace strategy.

We’ve asked why tracing was missing from the government strategy so today’s announcement is important. 2. But we were promised 100,000 tests a day by the end of the month. Not testing capacity at 100,000. We’re still not carrying out the numbers of tests we need to. In particular we should be doing so much more to test care workers. They shouldn’t have to travel miles for a test.

1. Ahead of the next government press conference we’re urging the Prime Minister to set out the serious next steps needed to tackle this virus. 2. Far too many people are either confused by the government’s social distancing measures or choose to ignore them. This cannot continue in a public health emergency. Ministers must explain how they escalate the response.

1. Coronavirus exploits ambivalence. Yet confused briefings and lack of clarity undermines the social distancing measures urgently needed. This is a health crisis not an inconvenience. We all need to change behaviour but we need government action as well. 2. It is time for resolute action and not just advice. The Prime Minister must take urgent steps today in line with effective measures used elsewhere internationally.