If statistics are anything to go by, the UK is in the midst of a major mental health crisis. With four out of five students apparently struggling with mental health issues, teenage self-harm on the rise, and English girls coming second to bottom in a global survey on self-confidence, you can only wonder why urgent action isn’t being taken. Does the government actually care about this country’s young people? Or are they just planning on ignoring these issues until they disappear?

In a move that points more to the latter, news has now dropped revealing that the government has axed its mental health champion for schools after she “publicly criticised current education policies”.

Natasha Devon – who was appointed by the Tories last August – was given the high-profile role in a bid to reduce the stigma surrounding young people’s mental health. Unfortunately, despite the issue being far from resolved, her position was axed yesterday (May 4); with The Guardian suggesting that the government may have wanted to “silence” her for speaking out.

Devon has indeed been openly critical of Conservative policies since her appointment, and took the opportunity to be more so in at a London conference of headteachers last week. In a speech at the event, Devon highlighted the overwhelming academic pressures being placed on young people today; and raised further questions about the lack of action that’s been taken.

“Time and time again over recent years young people – and the people who teach them – have spoken out about how a rigorous culture of testing and academic pressure is detrimental to their mental health,” she said. “At one end of the scale, we’ve got four-year-olds being tested, at the other end of the scale we’ve got teenagers leaving school and facing the prospect of leaving university with record amounts of debt. Anxiety is the fastest growing illness in under 21s. These things are not a coincidence.”

“We’ve got teenagers leaving school and facing the prospect of leaving university with record amounts of debt. Anxiety is the fastest growing illness in under 21s. These things are not a coincidence” – Natasha Devon

Despite Devon’s open criticism, the Department of Education has denied that this was the reason the role was axed: saying instead that Devon had simply become “obsolete” due to a the appointment of a new ‘cross-government health champion’. They went on to stress that she had done a “great job” of helping to raise the profile of young people’s mental health, and that she would continue to be a full member of their mental health “steering” group. “Natasha will stay closely involved with all our work,” they added.

However, it didn’t take long for mental health shadow minister Luciana Berger to share her suspicions over the shock axing. “If (Devon) has been silenced then this raises serious questions over the government’s commitment to listening to the evidence and acting in the best interests of young people’s mental health and wellbeing,” she told The Guardian yesterday. “Ministers must explain themselves as a matter of urgency. Nicky Morgan (the education secretary) claims to be in ‘listening mode’ but it would appear that this does not extend to those that do not agree with her.”

Mary Bousted, the general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, agreed – adding that the government saw Devon as a “thorn in its flesh”.

“She has spoken forcefully about teenage and children’s mental health and she has said really important things,” Bousted said. “Firstly that resources available for dealing with young people’s mental ill-health are inadequate.”

“She has also said that the current government’s – and previous administration’s – education policies and the increase in testing have led to an increase in stress and pressure in schools. That will have really annoyed the department. I’m not surprised they’ve let her go.”