The options are unattractive but a massively expanded warm homes scheme gets the vote hereIt’s choose your poison time for a government that must know allowing low-income households to suffer the full blast of the scheduled rise in energy bills in Apri…
‘I’m always tired, Miss’: the sleepless children of Leeds’ bed poverty crisis
Teacher Bex Wilson was shocked to learn a pupil had no bed to sleep in. But this was the tip of the icebergReal heroes don’t wear capes, but they do bring duvets. Such as Bex Wilson and her dad, Mark, who spent the night before Christmas bringing beds …
The Nigerian fish market where gods and commerce meet
The all-women market appoints a ‘mother of wealth’ to pray for their good fortune – and in this recession-hit country the role is more important than ever Folasade Ojikutu wears a traditional white lace dress for her work at the lagoon dock behind Oluw…
Ignore the buzzwords, the Tories will inflict yet more damage on local services | Frances Ryan
Rishi Sunak will talk about ‘levelling up’, but desperate communities should prepare for more funding cutsWhen Rishi Sunak stands in front of the Commons for the spending review next week, the chancellor will no doubt serve up “build back better” buzzw…
Youth homelessness has risen 40% in five years, says UK charity
Centrepoint estimates 121,000 homeless or at risk, with analysis showing black people disproportionally affectedYouth homeless in the UK has increased by an estimated two-fifths in five years, rising to more than 120,000, a leading charity director has…
Life expectancy gap in England ‘a growing chasm’ exacerbated by Covid
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…
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 …
The pandemic ought to be the turning point in the debate about private schools | Frances Ryan
The gulf in provision for private and state pupils has never been starker. Who can doubt now that they entrench privilege?Keir Starmer’s pledge earlier this week to end the lucrative tax breaks given to private schools has predictably brought out the u…