Difference in expected lifespan between some of wealthiest and poorest areas has more than doubled since early 2000s, research findsCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageEngland’s richest people are living for a decade longer than…
The Tories have persuaded voters there’s a threat worse than fuel shortages | Nesrine Malik
The goal of the ‘war on woke’ is to make people think that while things are bad, they could be a lot worse if the left was in powerThe British historian Alex von Tunzelmann explained to me a few years ago why we are unable to discuss empire without den…
James Brokenshire obituary
Highly respected Conservative MP and minister who served as secretary of state for Northern IrelandJames Brokenshire, who has died aged 53 of lung cancer, was the Conservative MP for Old Bexley and Sidcup and a minister in successive governments, inclu…
There’s no point in Labour waiting for Britain’s economic crisis to get worse | John Harris
‘If it’s not hurting, it’s not working,’ the Tories used to say. So as the pain grows, Boris Johnson will claim it as a successOn the face of it, politics in England is in a weird, almost delirious state. The governing party has been in power for more …
Sajid Javid working on radical plan to merge social care with health in England
Proposal aimed at freeing up NHS beds and offering home care could be included in white paper on reformRadical plans for a new national care service under which health and social care would be delivered by the same organisation are being actively consi…
‘This is not democracy’: Tories accused of selling out to developers
Environmentalist and landowner Isabella Tree says that ‘troubling’ relationship with housebuilders calls the party’s environmental credentials into questionThe prominent role played by a large housebuilding company and Tory donor in last week’s Conserv…
Like all cults, Borisology is detached from reality and destined to end badly | Andrew Rawnsley
In thrall to one capricious character with few deep beliefs, the Tories are abandoning once-cherished convictions and trashing traditional alliesThe Conservative & Unionist party is no more. It has ceased to be. It has expired and gone to meet its …
Brexit is all around us, yet politicians run scared of even uttering the ‘B word’ | Anand Menon
It did not get a look-in at either party conference but make no mistake: Brexit is alive and kickingWe seek it here, we seek it there. Yet Brexit is nowhere to be seen. Neither Labour in Brighton nor the Conservatives in Manchester wanted to utter the …
The Observer view on benefit cuts | Observer editorial
The goverment’s erosion of financial support for low-paid parents consigns their children to a life of povertyThe government enacted the biggest ever overnight benefit cut last week. In one fell swoop, low-paid parents and unpaid carers of disabled peo…
Tories’ manifesto pledge to build 300,000 houses a year now ‘almost impossible’
Shortages of material, labour and drivers put the party’s mid-2020 target in serious jeopardy, say analystsBoris Johnson’s election pledge to build 300,000 new houses a year is in serious jeopardy in the face of labour and material shortages that are c…