Halloween labelled 'dangerous' by minister Norman Lamb

A government minister has labelled Halloween as a "dangerous" culture.

Liberal Democrat Care and Support Minister Norman Lamb says the event brands the mentally ill as "psychos, schizos or freaks".

At a conference in Manchester, Mr Lamb also urged retailers not to "demonise" people with mental health problems by selling certain outfits ahead of Halloween on 31 October.

"It makes us believe mental illness is something other worldly," he said.

Liberal Democrat Care and Support Minister Norman Lamb

In a speech at the National Child and Adult Services (NCAS) conference, Mr Lamb said: "Everyone should be able to enjoy Halloween but I urge all retailers to behave more responsibly - don't demonise mental illness.

"For me it is horrendous that, this Halloween, a young person experiencing a mental health crisis could easily come across someone in a 'psycho ward' or 'schizo patient' costume, complete with handcuffs and ripped restraints, as much as they could see someone in a Dracula costume."

Last year, supermarket chains Tesco and Asda withdrew two Halloween outfits being sold online as a "psycho ward" outfit and a "mental patient fancy dress costume" after criticism.

Both stores apologised for any offence caused and agreed to make donations to mental health charity, Mind.

"We have to tackle this damaging stigma which prevents young people from seeking help when they need it, or talking about any problems they might be having."

Earlier this month, a health trust boss said some Halloween fancy dress outfits were offensive and damaging.

The fancy dress costume includes shackles and a restraining face mask

John Lawlor, chief executive of Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust (NTW), said people would never wear a "cancer patient" Halloween outfit, and should therefore not treat mental health issues so flippantly.

Last week, Mr Lamb criticised Newbury-based Jokers' Masquerade, telling the BBC it was selling outfits that "reinforced stereotypes".

Jokers' Masquerade's website is still selling an "Adult Skitzo Costume", which is an orange jumpsuit with "a set of black vinyl shackles and belt, plus a restraining face mask to complete the look".

It also offers a "Maximum Restraint Halloween Costume" which contains a straightjacket.

A petition has been launched, calling on Jokers' Masquerade to withdraw the costumes.

The petition organiser wrote: "This is offensive, stigmatising and extremely damaging not only to public perception of mental illness, but also the people affected by it. It's not right, and it should stop."

In a blog post, Jokers' Masquerade's Mike Dawson said the website's staff had been sent "abusive comments, blasphemous and expletive remarks" on social media.

He said the company was disappointed to have been singled out over the "Skitzo" outfit which is also on sale on other websites and that it had withdrawn costumes in the past, including one of Jimmy Savile.

He added that the company did not intend to offend people but wanted customers to be able to make a choice themselves.

"We will not be forced into knee-jerk decisions, but are happy to receive constructive criticism," a statement said.

"These past days, we have listened to the mental health proponents and made various edits to criticised products. This has included renaming product titles, descriptions and category pages to dilute this sensitive area for some."

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