Mentally ill will be allowed to sit as MPs

A rule that bans the mentally ill from sitting as MPs is to be relaxed in a shake-up of mental health laws.

An outright bar on MPs "of unsound mind" will be replaced by a test that allows them to carry on so long as they are able to turn up at Westminster. The change would allow politicians suffering severe mental illness to remain in the Commons for years, even if they could not understand debates and were undergoing compulsory treatment in the community. The proposal is part of the draft Mental Health Bill unveiled by Health Secretary John Reid last week.

The new law would extend the recovery period from six months to a year. The MP's seat would only then be declared vacant if the illness was judged "likely to affect to a significant extent the member's ability to attend the legislature".