Anti-depressants: Cost, Risks and Ramifications

Debate between Baroness Merron and Lord Alton of Liverpool

Wednesday 11th December 2024 Lords Chamber

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health and Social Care (Baroness Merron) (Lab)]

I apologise to your Lordships’ House and am grateful to my noble friend the Chief Whip, as ever.

In 2023-24, 8.7 million identified patients were prescribed anti-depressants at a cost of £220 million, compared with 2015-16, when the cost was £270 million for prescriptions to 6.88 million people. The NHS Business Services Authority reports patient prescribing data on an annual basis rather than a running total. All licensed anti-depressants meet robust standards of safety, quality and efficacy, constantly reviewed by the MHRA.

[Lord Alton of Liverpool (CB)]

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Merron, for her reply and for facilitating and attending our meeting with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. Has she had the chance to read the correspondence I shared with her from the bereaved family of Thomas Kingston, who, like Olivia Russell, committed suicide while using anti-depressants? Has she noted that the coroner intends to issue a prevention of future death report to the MHRA? In the light of this tragedy, what can the Minister do to create a more rigorous approval regime, including greater definition of risk? Given that hundreds of millions of these drugs are issued, at a cost of hundreds of millions of pounds, will the Government establish a longer-term inquiry to ask searching questions about root causes—what is leading to endless repeat prescriptions and driving such widespread reliance on anti-depressants?

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

I extend my deepest sympathies to the family of Thomas Kingston after his very tragic death earlier this year. We await the findings of the inquest and will act on any recommendations by the coroner as appropriate. While there has been an increase in prescribing, as the noble Lord observes, anti-depressants, for example, are often prescribed for a wide range of reasons—not just for the treatment of depression but for migraine, chronic pain, and ME, among other conditions. The other possible reason for the increase is because of the stigma associated with seeking mental health treatment, but prescribing anti-depressants is never the first port of call—it is just one of the tools in the box to assist people. There are no current plans to conduct a review.

Telecommunications (Security) Bill

Debate between Baroness Merron and Lord Alton of Liverpool

Report stage
Tuesday 19th October 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Alton of Liverpool (CB)]

My Lords, the amendment just moved by the noble Lord, Lord Fox, is about transparency, accountability and parliamentary scrutiny. It puts Parliament into the driving seat. It deserves the support of the whole House, and I hope we will give it.

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

My Lords, as we start Report, I welcome the noble Lord, Lord Parkinson, to his new ministerial role. I am sure we all look forward to working with him.

I remind the House that national security must be the first duty of any Government, which is why we welcome the intention behind the Bill. As we have said repeatedly throughout the passage of the Bill, we believe that there are a number of issues with the Bill that need to be addressed, including parliamentary oversight of the new powers, which this group focuses on. As Comms Council UK said, the Bill represents an

“unprecedented shift of power from Parliament to the Minister in relation to how telecoms networks operate”

and that

“the Minister will be able to unilaterally make decisions that impact the technical operation and direction of technology companies, with little or no oversight or accountability.”

With reference to Amendment 1, I shall not repeat the arguments made by the noble Lord, Lord Fox. Suffice it to say that we on these Benches appreciate and wish to stress the importance of parliamentary scrutiny, which we have stressed throughout the passage of the Bill.

I thank the Minister for tabling Amendments 3, 4 and 5. They are very similar to our Front-Bench amendments in Committee and reflect a key recommendation from the Delegated Powers Committee. I thank the former Minister, the noble Baroness, Lady Barran, for her work on these amendments. As noble Lords will remember, the Delegated Powers Committee called the powers in Clause 3 unacceptable and called for the negative procedure for the new telecoms security codes of practice. This important change from the Government ensures adequate parliamentary scrutiny, which is a welcome step forward.

--- Later in debate ---

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

My Lords, Amendment 8 is in my name. I am grateful to the noble Lords, Lord Fox and Lord Alton, for their support. It is, of course, the same as Amendment 24 that we saw in Committee, which requires that network diversification is reported on annually.

As we heard in Committee, there is wide cross-party support for the principle that our networks will not be secure if the supply chain is not diversified. For me, this is at the very heart of the Bill and what it should seek to address. Unfortunately, we still have a Bill that seeks to secure telecoms security yet seems to think it is possible to be silent on diversification. Even though the former Minister said in Committee that

“diversification is designed to enhance security and resilience”,—[Official Report, 15/7/21; col. GC 551.]

the Government have said that this amendment is not appropriate. The importance of the amendment could not be clearer. I remind noble Lords that, once Huawei is removed, the UK will be left with effectively only two service providers. This is a matter of the highest concern. We need and must have a diversified supply chain. That means diversity of supply at different points in the supply chain and that different networks do not all share the same vulnerabilities of a particular supplier. This is absolutely crucial for network resilience. It will also support British companies and grow British jobs.

If the Government fail to amend the Bill on this point by accepting this amendment, they are putting our national security at risk. Therefore, I will listen closely to the reply from the Minister, but I must stress that I am minded to test the opinion of this House on this matter. I beg to move.

[Lord Alton of Liverpool (CB)]

My Lords, it is a great pleasure to follow the noble Baroness, Lady Merron. Like other noble Lords, I was remiss in not welcoming the noble Lord, Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay, to his new role earlier on. I think that is because we have all been so familiar with seeing his face throughout the proceedings on this Bill and many others. It is a great pleasure to see him in his new role.

The Government should be convinced by the arguments that the noble Baroness, Lady Merron, just advanced, simply because of what their own advisers have told them: the lack of diversification constitutes

“an intolerable security and resilience risk.”

There was widespread agreement in Committee and elsewhere about that.

I draw the Minister’s attention to the as-yet undebated report of the International Relations and Defence Committee, on which I have the privilege to serve. The report, titled The UK and China’s Security and Trade Relationship: A Strategic Void, was published on 10 September. It refers specifically to the supply chain vulnerability measures in this Bill, but says that

“such vulnerabilities are widespread in the economy.”

It continues:

“In order to retain its freedom of action towards China, the Government should conduct scenario planning on supply chain vulnerabilities and identify where action is needed to mitigate the risks.”


This amendment would give the opportunity for such discussion to take place in the House of Commons. We have to think about only the case of Newport Wafer Fab to see its importance. This was a deal of £63 million regarding the UK’s largest producer of silicon chips, which are vital in products from TVs and mobile phones to cars and games consoles. As we learned in Committee, a group of UK companies has now stepped up to the plate and hopes to acquire Newport Wafer Fab. When the Minister replies, I would be most appreciative if he would say what progress has been made on that.