The Evening Standard reports that the rule that bans the mentally ill from sitting as MPs is to be relaxed in a shake-up of mental health laws.

An outright bar on MPs “of unsound mind” will be replaced by a test that allows them to carry on so long as they are able to turn up at Westminster. The change would allow politicians suffering severe mental illness to remain in the Commons for years, even if they could not understand debates and were undergoing compulsory treatment in the community. The proposal is part of the draft Mental Health Bill unveiled by Health Secretary John Reid last week. So they are finally making it official.