From the Times: Boris Johnson’s voters are dying off. The stark conclusion of a report published today is that some of the key groups that swung behind the Conservatives in December are bearing the brunt of falling life expectancy.
Sir Michael Marmot, author of the study, said: “England has lost a decade . . . Health is telling us a great deal about how well society is doing. If health has stopped improving, then society has stopped improving.”
Although the life expectancy of wealthier people has increased, for the poorest citizens in the north it has stagnated or even declined. With the Tories taking seats in the north and Midlands with 47 per cent of the vote among the lowest social classes, this is not a problem they can ignore. In 2001 the richest tenth of men lived 7.4 years longer than the poorest; that has increased to 7.7 years. For women, the gap has grown from 5 years in 2011 to 6.1 in 2017.
Mr Johnson wants to boost skills, infrastructure and employment in left-behind communities. Sir Michael Marmot wants higher quality, better-paid jobs, a reduction in child poverty, improved housing and a focus on “ignored areas”. Pointing out the similarities between the two programmes is more likely to engage the government than hectoring.
The heads of 21 royal colleges and health faculties in the UK write to Boris Johnson in an unprecedented plea today urging him to focus his government’s efforts on closing the gap in life expectancy between the country’s most deprived and privileged areas.
The letter, seen by The Times, calls on Downing Street to accept and exceed the recommendations made in a damning report on the nation’s health.
East Devon Watch 