Critics force Milburn to rewrite Bill

Ministers are prepared to rewrite the most controversial parts of their draft mental health Bill, after a barrage of complaints from Britain's most senior medical bodies.

The Royal College of Psychiatrists and the British Medical Association warned last week they had "extreme anxieties" about the Government's proposals for a sweeping reform of mental health legislation.

The BMA, in its formal response to the proposals, said the Bill presented a "fundamental threat" to civil liberties and could be used as an "instrument of social control", because its definition of mental illness was too vague.

Whitehall sources have indicated for the first time that Alan Milburn, Secretary of State for Health, could compromise on the most contentious areas of the Bill – a victory for The Independent on Sunday's campaign for reconsideration.

"Our over-riding interest is in getting it right, so that the safety of the community is reflected in the way that the Bill is drafted," said one source.

Medical experts claim the Bill's failure to exclude certain illnesses means alcoholics, drug addicts and people with personality disorders are at real risk of being compulsorily detained unfairly.

But Mr Milburn will reject calls from the Royal College for the draft Bill to be substantially rewritten or even scrapped. After a series of scandals involving mentally ill offenders such as Michael Stone, who murdered Lin Russell and her daughter Megan after being released into the community, the minister is adamant that tougher mental health legislation will be introduced.