The UK government has inflicted “great misery” on its people with “punitive, mean-spirited, and often callous” austerity policies driven by a political desire to undertake social re-engineering rather than economic necessity, the United Nations poverty envoy has found. Philip Alston, the UN’s rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, ended a two-week fact-finding mission to the UK with a stinging declaration that levels of child poverty were “not just a disgrace, but a social calamity and an economic disaster”, even though the UK is the world’s fifth largest economy. About 14 million people, a fifth of the population, live in poverty and 1.5 million are destitute, being unable to afford basic essentials, he said, citing figures from the Institute for Fiscal Studies and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. He highlighted predictions that child poverty could rise by 7 percentage points between 2015 and 2022, possibly up to a rate of 40%. Read more.
You may also like
The Equality Trust – Cost of Inequality 2023
Over the last few decades, the UK’s inequality has increased rapidly. We’re all familiar with the headlines – record profits and CEO pay, billionaire wealth spiralling out of control, luxury developments in...
November 27, 2023
Bedsit Britain: 160,000 people in England crammed into unlicensed housing
Nearly 160,000 people are living in hidden, often overcrowded and sometimes dangerous bedsit-style accommodation across England, analysis has found. Intelligence compiled by councils suggests there are almost 32,000...
November 20, 2023
Thousands of babies and toddlers falling sick from damp homes in Britain, NHS doctor warns
Exclusive: Nearly 31,000 children aged four or under admitted to hospital each year in England due to respiratory virus, with 80% developing acute bronchiolitis Read the full article on this link to The Guardian Share...
November 13, 2023
Subscribe to Blog via Email
Join 106 other subscribers