Sajid Javid: What can be done to help prevent suicide?
Best of Today
BBC
4.0 • 837 Ratings
🗓️ 1 September 2023
⏱️ 17 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Former Health Secretary Sajid Javid lost his brother Tariq to suicide in 2018. It is the number one cause of death for young people and biggest killer of men under 50.
In a personal report for the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, Sajid speaks to people in Bristol, where he grew up, whose lives have been affected by suicide and also speaks to the chief exec of the Samaritans and other mental health campaigners.
He then tells Today's Martha Kearney what he thinks the government should be doing to help with suicide prevention.
If you are suffering distress or despair and need support, including urgent support, a list of organisations that can help is available at bbc.co.uk/actionline, or you can call for free to hear recorded information on 0800 066 066
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:04.8 | Hello and welcome to this best of today podcast. I'm Martha Carney. |
| 0:08.9 | Suicide is the number one cause of death for young people and the biggest killer of men under the age of 50. |
| 0:14.9 | It accounts for more than 5,000 deaths a year in the UK. |
| 0:18.8 | The government's expected to announce its suicide prevention policy in the |
| 0:22.2 | coming weeks and labours made cutting suicide a key part of its health promises. Urging them on is the |
| 0:28.2 | former Conservative Chancellor, Home Secretary and Health Secretary, Sajid Javid, who in 2018 received |
| 0:34.0 | the shocking news that his older brother Tariq had taken his own life. |
| 0:38.3 | The family found out in the inquest that Tariq had been worried about a health issue |
| 0:42.2 | but hadn't told any of the family about his worries, leaving them stunned by his death. |
| 0:47.8 | In a personal report for us, Sadi Javid's been to Bristol where he grew up |
| 0:52.2 | to talk to people who have been affected like him by suicide. |
| 0:57.0 | So I'm standing here in Stapleton Road in Bristol, outside the shop that my parents used to run. |
| 1:03.0 | I'm looking at the flat above the shop that my parents had. |
| 1:06.0 | There was a two bedroom flat that the whole family lived in, all seven of us, my parents, me and my four brothers. |
| 1:13.0 | I've just met the owner of the shop, and he told me the flat is disused, not least because it was raided a few months ago by the police because it was found to be a cannabis factory. |
| 1:24.4 | And so that's not how I remember it. I remember it as a loving environment on this, |
| 1:31.1 | what I thought was a wonderful street, Stapleton Road, in Bristol. And I and my youngest brother, |
| 1:37.2 | we shared a bedroom with my parents. And in the second bedroom were three of my brothers, |
| 1:43.5 | Tarik, Khalidid and Bassett. |
| 1:46.0 | And the reason I'm back here today is really to talk about suicide prevention |
| 1:53.0 | because, you know, very sadly my eldest brother, Tariq, he took his own life in July 2018. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.