As demonstrators converged on Westminster yesterday Tony Blair acknowledged the fears of campaigners against the government's plans to reform mental health legislation and "turn doctors into jailers."
At Commons question time the prime minister said he "entirely understood" the anxieties of 50 mental health groups who were lobbying MPs in protest at plans to detain people with dangerous personality disorders.
The bill is Whitehall's response to cases like that of Jonathan Zito, killed apparently at random by Christopher Clunis, and a campaigning issue for some newspapers.
Mr Blair reminded civil liberty critics he had to recognise public concern too. "The public worries that some people who, maybe tragically, have a severe mental disorder can pose a danger and threat to the public. We need to balance these two things together."
Last night the Department of Health said it was still considering responses to its June draft bill that could compel people with dangerous personality disorders to be detained indefinitely, even if they have committed no crime.
A bill may be included in next month's Queen's speech. The lobby was organised by the Mental Health Alliance, a group of more than 50 organisations including Mind, Rethink, the Law Society, and the Royal College of Physicians, to put pressure on the government to drop the "draconian new powers of compulsion".
Alliance chairman Paul Farmer said: "We urge the government to seize this chance to pass mental health legislation fit for the 21st century before it is too late. Hundreds of people fear the bill will turn their doctors into jailers, allowing people who have committed no crime to be locked up indefinitely."
Liam Fox, shadow health secretary, said the draft bill was "badly drafted, shoddily thought out, and it infringes basic human rights."
Bert Massie, chairman of the disability rights commission, said parts of the bill were welcome, but others clearly discriminated against people with mental health problems.
Ministers dispute such charges. A health spokeswoman said an extra £300m was being invested in mental health. The development of new services such as assertive outreach, crisis resolution and early intervention, would help to ensure that fewer people become so ill that they need compulsory treatment.
Research conducted for Mind in September found that more than one in three members of the public would be deterred from seeking help from their GP for depression if the proposed bill became law.
The draft Mental Health Bill, which is the first proposed change in mental health laws since Tory reforms in 1982, was announced on June 25 and the consultation period for submissions ended on September 16.
