The BBC reports that “[c]urrently, MPs detained under the Mental Health Act for more than six months are stripped of their seat.”

Tory MP Gavin Barwell claims that “An MP or a company director can be removed from their job because of mental ill health even if they go on to make a full recovery. The law as it stands sends out a clear message that if someone has a mental health condition their contribution to public life is not welcome. That is an affront to a decent civilised society. The current law is both discriminatory and an ass.”

So he is sponsoring the Mental Health (Discrimination) Bill that would “tackle the last legal form of discrimination in our society.”

The existing law, according to the UK’s Law Society, may even breach the UN’s Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, ratified by the UK.

The UK government backs MP Barwell’s bill.