In June I announced that I would be sponsoring the Mental Health (Discrimination) Bill and piloting it through the House of Commons – the Bill will be debated on Friday 14th September but I need your help to ensure it becomes law.

To our shame, the law still discriminates against those with a mental health condition. An MP or a company director can be removed from their job as a result of a mental health condition even if they go on to make a full recovery. Many people who are perfectly capable of performing jury service are disbarred from doing so. As well as stopping this, the Bill will also send a clear message that discrimination is wrong: people have a right to be judged as individuals, not labelled or stereotyped.

I’ve been working with Mind, Rethink Mental Illness and the Royal College of Psychiatrists to create a helpful video explaining what you can do to help:

We need to get as many MPs to come to the debate to support the Bill as possible. Visit the campaign website to find out more about the Bill and how you can tweet, e-mail or write to your MP to encourage them to attend the debate.

Having a mental health condition is nothing to be ashamed of or to keep a secret. It is high time we dragged the law of this land into the 21st century. If my Private Member’s Bill is approved by the House, we will look back in a few years’ time and be amazed that the nonsense I have described was on the statute book in 2012.