Poverty
London dominates England’s social mobility league with top 20 places
May 14, 2025The top 20 constituencies with the best social mobility in England are all in London, according to research from a leading education charity that underscores the stark regional divide in children’s life chances. In a report published on Thursday, the Sutton Trust has put together an “opportunity index” by analysing six measures of mobility. These […]
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Labour-run Enfield council left 100 families homeless after they refused to relocate
March 15, 2025A Labour-run London council left more than 100 families homeless without support last year after they refused to be relocated outside the borough, the Observer can reveal. Freedom of information data from about 80% of English councils shows that they ended their legal duties to 615 households who refused offers of housing outside the local […]
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‘It’s hell on earth for me’: how did Joe Black overdose in a homeless hostel with zero tolerance for drugs?
March 6, 2025Jude Black was delighted when her son, Joe, moved into Holmes Road Studios in Camden, north London. This wasn’t any old homelessness hostel. It had just won an award from the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and it looked gorgeous. The 59 refurbished studio flats had en suite bathrooms and were designed around a […]
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A vital health check is bypassing the people most in need | Letter
November 17, 2024The lack of engagement with the NHS health check should be deeply concerning for the secretary of state, as it is with me, an emergency medicine doctor who treats the consequences of undiagnosed heart disease (Less than half of eligible people received NHS ‘midlife MOT’ since 2019, says watchdog, 13 November). When you look into […]
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‘My state pension was £880 – and my rent was £1,000’: how a 70-year-old man became homeless in Britain
June 18, 2024In a way, 70-year-old Tony Sinclair was lucky to be in his tent on the day last year when the police arrived. The canvas that kept him from the elements ended up in the bin, but, unlike several of his neighbours, he was able to save his most important possessions from going the same way. […]
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Councils move hundreds of homeless families out of London with 24-hour ultimatums
June 10, 2024Hundreds of homeless families were permanently forced out of London by councils last year after many were given 24-hour ultimatums to either accept a private tenancy far away from the capital or be kicked out of temporary accommodation and left on the streets. The campaign group Housing Action Southwark and Lambeth (HASL) found that 319 […]
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The Notting Hill slums where I grew up were replaced by social housing – but right to buy wrecked it | Letter
May 16, 2024I write in response to your article (Something is stirring in England: right to buy looks imperilled, and not a moment too soon, 12 May). Whoever wins the election will face a housing crisis that is not easy to fathom a way out of. Right to buy, along with buy-to-let mortgages, has created wealth for […]
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‘Rat bites and chronic asthma’: schools on frontline of UK housing crisis
April 17, 2024Some children living in dire housing conditions have been woken up by chesty coughs caused by damp, others by the smell of sewage leaking down their walls. Toby* was woken by rats on his chest. “It was midnight and he came to me crying,” said his mother, who does not want to be named. He […]
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Hunger, homelessness and gang grooming: just a normal week at one London academy
April 3, 2024‘Really worrying’: social problems driving rise in home schooling in UK “It’s the biggest story, mark my words. I think it’s really worrying. There are going to be dead children.” Zoë Thompson is not a drama queen. She studied physics at King’s College London, and thought she would work for Nasa. In fact, she went […]
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The Guardian view on London: diversity thrives while Tories pander to prejudice | Editorial
February 28, 2024Just why do the Conservatives so dislike London? The former deputy chair of the Tory party Lee Anderson recently described the capital’s Labour mayor, Sadiq Khan, as controlled by “Islamists” – a sentiment others in his party rather belatedly accept as “wrong”, even if they won’t say why. Paul Scully, a former minister for London, chipped […]
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