Jeremy Hunt

YOUNG people being overdiagnosed with mental health conditions has left the state at breaking point, a report warns.

Policy Exchange’s study is backed by Jeremy Hunt, who as Health Secretary in 2012 pushed to give mental health the same importance as physical health.

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He now admits a surge in diagnoses — as parents chased support for kids — had “unintended consequences” by overwhelming the special educational needs (SEND) system.

The report says costs are “unsustainable” and seeks a radical overhaul.

Mr Hunt said: “We seem to have lost sight of the reality that child development is a messy and uneven process.”

He added that in trying to support young people there are “excessive impulses to medicalise and diagnose the routine, which can undercut grit and resilience”.

Earlier in the year, The Sun revealed that nearly one million children and young people were referred for mental health help last year.

Over 958,200 children in England were referred to Children and Young People’s Mental Health Services.

That is equal to eight per cent of England’s population of 12 million children.

And an increase of 10,000 from the previous year, according to research by the Children’s Commissioner. 

Anxiety was the most common reason, followed by neurodevelopmental conditions and autism.

Children’s Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza called for urgent action to tackle waiting times.

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THE impact of Brexit on the economy has been “overly exaggerated”, insists former Chancellor Jeremy Hunt.

The Tory MP, who backed Remain in 2016, says the move has had “much less impact on exports to the EU” than previously thought.

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It comes as a think tank’s report hits out at the Office for Budget Responsibility watchdog.

It said their flawed models risked undermining UK trade policy at a critical time.

The report revealed UK vehicle exports fell by 28 per cent between 2019 and 2023.

But the actual value fell by just 2 per cent in real terms, the think tank said.

It also says that goods which were imported to the UK and then sent out again, known as “re-exports” accounted for a large discrepancy in the fall in outward trade.

The Remain-backer warned that those “who seek to relitigate Brexit are deeply mistaken”.

He said: “In this era of increasing geopolitical uncertainty, it is more important than ever that the UK keeps all of its allies close.

“Britain does not need to choose between the EU and the US on trade, but should seek to maintain positive and open relationships with both.”