Reform the Mental Health Act to remove the detention of autistic people
The Government has promised to reform the Mental Health Act; we feel they have failed to do so. Meanwhile, autistic people have been forcibly detained and may spend years in unnecessary restraints, over medicated and isolated. We want the Government to release them into residential homes.
Signatures
160
signatures
Government response threshold (10,000) · 160/10,000
Debate threshold (100,000) · 160/100,000
- 22 MAR 2026Petition closedFinal total: 160 signatures
- 22 SEPT 2025Petition opened for signatures
Background
We believe that in Britain, we pride ourselves on our values and our freedom. Yet we feel we do not see freedom for the disabled and mentally ill. We believe autistic people are not mentally ill and that the Mental Health Act should never have applied to autistic people in the first place. We believe support for autism has been badly underfunded and mischaracterised. We believe locking them away doesn’t change that they are there, and that they need real homes and support.