The government is to lend its weight to a concerted national campaign to eliminate the stigma that is blighting the lives of people suffering from mental illness, health ministers will announce today.

{mosimage}The campaign, spearheaded by the mental health charities, will use TV advertising and community projects across England to tackle the prejudice that prevents people with mental health problems from getting jobs, mortgages, friendships and a fair share of NHS care.

Ivan Lewis, the care services minister who took over responsibility for mental health this month, will say: “It is time to draw a line following years of division over the reform of mental health legislation. We should now unite to launch a sustained national campaign against the stigma and ignorance which has blighted the lives of too many people with mental health problems for too long.”

He will announce the government’s support for a consortium led by the charities Mind and Rethink, which last week won £18m from the Big Lottery Fund and Comic Relief for a four-year anti-stigma campaign.

Research for the Department of Health found 34% of people in England mistakenly think mentally ill people are prone to violence, compared with 15% in Scotland where a strong anti-prejudice campaign changed attitudes.

Mr Lewis will say: “Despite significant additional investment, mental health services in many areas are still not offering the quality support people have a right to expect. I will be consulting with service users, carers and front line professionals to identify the improvements we need to make.”

Riots which erupted in Harmondsworth and Campsfield House immigration removal centres could happen again, an official report warned yesterday.

A paramedic crew was pelted with stones as they tried to treat an elderly man who had suffered a heart attack. At one stage the crew was forced to leave the scene as three youths shouted abuse and threw stones.

Money from unused bank accounts is to be used by the government to provide a “youth centre in every town”. The scheme is part of the government’s 10-year strategy for young people which is due to be unveiled by Children’s Minister Beverly Hughes.

Ministers face a string of legal challenges after announcing that 35 councils are to be scrapped in a move to streamline services and save £150 million a year.

Every person who leaves or enters Britain will be electronically screened under new measures designed to expose terrorists hiding among the travelling public, Gordon Brown announced yesterday.

Most A&E departments in England do not identify problem drinkers or offer them long-term help when they seek treatment, a study says.

Six disabled people have been arrested in connection with what is believed to be the widespread abuse of a scheme to help wheelchair-users buy cars.