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| Osborne's 'lost marbles' taunt reinforces mental health stigma, says Labour | Osborne's 'lost marbles' taunt reinforces mental health stigma, says Labour |
| (7 months later) | |
| George Osborne should apologise for “flippant remarks” he made in parliament about mental health, Labour’s shadow mental health minister has said. | George Osborne should apologise for “flippant remarks” he made in parliament about mental health, Labour’s shadow mental health minister has said. |
| Speaking to MPs on Tuesday, the chancellor joked that the shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, and the former Greek finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, had both “lost their marbles” – referring to the Elgin Marbles and to Labour’s plans to hold a series of open seminars about economics. | Speaking to MPs on Tuesday, the chancellor joked that the shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, and the former Greek finance minister, Yanis Varoufakis, had both “lost their marbles” – referring to the Elgin Marbles and to Labour’s plans to hold a series of open seminars about economics. |
| In an open letter to the chancellor, Labour’s shadow minister for mental health, Luciana Berger – who sits in the shadow cabinet – expressed her “deep disappointment” at the comments. | In an open letter to the chancellor, Labour’s shadow minister for mental health, Luciana Berger – who sits in the shadow cabinet – expressed her “deep disappointment” at the comments. |
| “Mental health affects one in four of us at any time, yet people with mental health problems still face stigma, prejudice and discrimination,” she wrote. “Flippant remarks such as those you chose to use today only serve to reinforce the gap in understanding. | “Mental health affects one in four of us at any time, yet people with mental health problems still face stigma, prejudice and discrimination,” she wrote. “Flippant remarks such as those you chose to use today only serve to reinforce the gap in understanding. |
| “Colleagues on all sides of the House have made great strides in recent years to help challenge the misconceptions and dispel the myths that still surround mental health. Your comments do a great disservice to those efforts.” | “Colleagues on all sides of the House have made great strides in recent years to help challenge the misconceptions and dispel the myths that still surround mental health. Your comments do a great disservice to those efforts.” |
| During Treasury Questions, Osborne told McDonnell: “If I could gently suggest that you might want to change your own economic policy, since in the last week you have called for the return of flying pickets, you have said you want to ban companies paying dividends and you want to spend billions of pounds on nuclear missile submarines without any nuclear missiles. | During Treasury Questions, Osborne told McDonnell: “If I could gently suggest that you might want to change your own economic policy, since in the last week you have called for the return of flying pickets, you have said you want to ban companies paying dividends and you want to spend billions of pounds on nuclear missile submarines without any nuclear missiles. |
| “Then today you have said you are going to tour the country with the former Greek finance minister, Mr Varoufakis, to educate us all about economics. I think the one thing they have got in common is they have both lost their marbles.” | “Then today you have said you are going to tour the country with the former Greek finance minister, Mr Varoufakis, to educate us all about economics. I think the one thing they have got in common is they have both lost their marbles.” |
| Labour MP Kate Osamor later raised a point of order in the Commons to complain about Osborne’s use of language. | Labour MP Kate Osamor later raised a point of order in the Commons to complain about Osborne’s use of language. |
| “I didn’t make the immediate judgment that it was unparliamentary,” responded the Commons speaker, John Bercow. “I think it was intended in a jocular spirit, but of course we all have to weigh our words carefully in this place and think of the possible implications of language chosen. | “I didn’t make the immediate judgment that it was unparliamentary,” responded the Commons speaker, John Bercow. “I think it was intended in a jocular spirit, but of course we all have to weigh our words carefully in this place and think of the possible implications of language chosen. |
| “But I stand by the judgment made; equally you have taken the opportunity to make your own point about it and to make a wider point about an important public policy issue in the process.” | “But I stand by the judgment made; equally you have taken the opportunity to make your own point about it and to make a wider point about an important public policy issue in the process.” |