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 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…
Property, pay and regional power could be the keys to ‘levelling up’ | Letters
Sheila Preston addresses property prices and pay levels, Roger Read makes a case for regional governance, Peter D Hogg suggests moving Eton College to Hartlepool, while Marilyn Hall hopes to see the end of grammar schools The much-discussed issue of “l…
Keir Starmer: universal credit cut is an attack on the poorest
Labour leader says Boris Johnson’s decision to remove £20 uplift comes at ‘worst possible time’Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageBoris Johnson has been accused by Keir Starmer of “turning on the poorest” as Britain eases out o…
Manila’s newly homeless tell of survival in lockdown – photo essay
As Covid hit, thousands of Filipinos were left trapped in the capital without work. Many ended up on the street and are still waiting to rebuild their livesLike so many others before her, Michelle Sicat, a 28-year-old single mother from the province of…
The Tory ‘emergency fund’ is an admission that universal credit shouldn’t be cut | Tom Pollard
The government is plugging its £6bn cut with a £500m one-off bung. How many people will struggle for food and heating?Working in frontline NHS mental health services during the darkest days of the pandemic, I often encountered people in crisis who did …
Food banks warn of smaller parcels due to HGV supply shortages
Exclusive: declining stocks and expected higher demand for charity could see struggling families given less in their food parcelsFood banks have said they will have to shrink the size of the parcels they give to struggling families owing to declining s…
Gordon Brown warns 3.5m households face fuel poverty this winter
Former prime minister says 2021 ‘worst time to be poor’ as he calls for support for struggling householdsThe former prime minister Gordon Brown has demanded fresh government financial support for households struggling to pay energy bills as he warned a…
After years of cruelty to people on welfare, is the UK starting to think differently? | John Harris
The universal credit uplift is about to end, but there are signs that politicians’ talk of people ‘milking it’ will no longer cut itHere it comes. This Wednesday, the Department for Work and Pensions will finally end the £20-a-week “uplift” to universa…
Energy firm Bulb under fire for monthly bill rises of up to 80%
Many customers are being forced to pay much higher direct debit payments, despite being hundreds of pounds in creditEnergy company Bulb has come under fire from its customers who say it is using them like a bank. It is forcing them to pay higher bills …