National health disservice

As if it wasn't disgraceful enough that, in one of the wealthiest countries in the world, life expectancy has stagnated (and indeed fallen in some areas), several academics argue that the government's austerity measures are primarily to blame.

Kingsley Purdam of the University of Manchester is among them: "Poverty, austerity and cuts to public services are impacting on how long people are living in the UK. We all need to look after our health but many of us, including the most vulnerable populations, need help at a time when evidence suggests that services are being cut. The lost years of life have an impact not just on the individual but on those people who are ultimately left behind including partners, children and grandchildren."

A complex array of factors are involved in the stagnation, but it seems clear that the cuts are a major contributor. Ultimately, then, citizens' health and life expectancy are being callously sacrificed in the single-minded pursuit of ideologically driven goals.