Reform Councillor WARNED for questioning mental health industry

Is "mental health" the new "bad back" excuse?

Lorne Campbell/Guzelian, "Oliver Freeston."

A Reform Councillor has told how he was PULLED UP by a council "monitoring officer" after raising questions over the number of people claiming to be suffering from depression.

Oliver Freeston was shocked to receive a message from North East Lincolnshire Council's compliance team about his comments during a meeting of the Health and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Panel, which he chairs.

During the meeting, Mr Freeston likened the explosion in the number of people claiming benefits for depression and anxiety to the "21st-century version of the bad back."

He told fellow councillors: "Some people frivolously make claims; self diagnose; and jump on the bandwagon. We have people up and down the country [who] use it as an easy way to claim out-of-work sickness benefits because it is hard to prove."

Caveating his remarks with an acknowledgement that there are "most certainly genuine cases," Mr Freeston went on to express concern about the number of very young children claiming to suffer from mental health problems.

The former NHS worker, who is in his twenties, said: "We have children aged nine, ten and eleven approaching teachers claiming they have depression. This is wrong. Children shouldn't know what depression is at that age; they should be taught to play rather than label themselves. It has become almost popular to label yourself 'depressed' among young people, often said rather flippantly.'

Following the meeting, Mr Freeston says he was approached by several councillors, who privately praised him for his "bravery" in speaking out in this way. He claims they admitted they entirely agreed with his comments but did not dare voice such views.

However, a number of other councillors appear to have raised eyebrows at the exchange, prompting a tip-off from the council's "Monitoring Officer," who advised him to watch his back.

The official suggested he might want to temper his language, to avoid disciplinary proceedings.

He was told it was inappropriate for an elected representative to express such views.

What the heck? This is precisely what voters want from their elected representatives! We want them to call out benefit fraud. How have we got to a place in which a councillor risks disciplinary action for expressing reasonable opinions? I have seen a record of his intervention, and nothing in what he said was either inaccurate or offensive.

I spoke to Oliver Freeston on Talk last night, with presenter Kevin O'Sullivan.

You can see the clip here:

This is just the latest example of the growing threat to free speech from the Left, who do not want to be confronted with uncomfortable truths.

Neither Oliver nor anyone else who calls out the industrial-scale abuse of the welfare system should give an inch of ground.