How Conservative complacency left schools to rot
In 2003 Labour aimed to refurbish all of England’s secondary schools, but in 2010 the Tories dropped the project.
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Crumbling Britain
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Crumbling Britain
A state in disrepair
Crumbling schools exemplify an age of private affluence and public squalor.
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The curious case of Jacob Rees-Mogg’s disappearing bus route
The loss of 42 bus services in the West Country is a symptom of the austerity that the Tory MP…
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What happens when you lose a public swimming pool?
Ageing facilities, cash-strapped councils and private competitors risk making swimming a luxury in Britain – and put swimmers in danger.
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Austerity Coronanomics: How vital support for carers is being cut during the Covid-19 pandemic
The loss of a service for unpaid carers in Tower Hamlets, east London, reveals how austerity is still scuppering Britain’s recovery.
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Crumbling Britain: Big Issue competitors arrive as rough sleeping rises
Grassroots responses to homelessness, like the radical alternative DOPE magazine, expose the scale of the crisis.
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Inside the pilot Universal Credit town doubling the size of its foodbank
Warrington opened new premises on an industrial estate this week to meet surging demand.
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Crumbling Britain: Inmates and customers lose “lifeline” as prison café closes
Another blow to rehabilitation of the prison population.
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Crumbling Britain: How it feels to give birth behind bars
When Kate Somers woke up after the complicated birth of her third child, she was handcuffed on a short chain to…
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Crumbling Britain: How a UN lawyer exposed the true cost of austerity
Philip Alston found elements of the new Universal Credit welfare system “problematic”, “harsh” and “unnecessary”.
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Crumbling Britain: The false economy of youth club closures in Haringey
“If people had a chance to come to a place like this, they could get away from their life on…
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Crumbling Britain: The slow death of the high street
This year alone, Poundworld, Toys “R” Us and Maplin have gone bust, while Carpetright, New Look and Mothercare are trying…
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Crumbling Britain: The quiet decline of English courts
Austerity cuts by the Ministry of Justice have led to the closure of 230 crown, county and magistrates’ courts since 2010,…
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Crumbling Britain: the UK’s pothole plague is a sign of national decline
As cyclists and drivers are endangered, politicians too could be toppled by the deteriorating state of our roads.
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Crumbling Britain: Lancashire’s lost world of deep-sea fishing
Fleetwood was once the third biggest fishing port in Britain but its industry has all but disappeared – and the museum keeping its memory…
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Crumbling Britain: one town’s revolt against a bankrupt council to save its local library
From a child at the High Court to pensioners planning a sit-in, Desborough residents are challenging Northamptonshire’s closure of 21 libraries.
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Crumbling Britain: the welfare state has created its own hostile environment
The ever-tightening squeeze on social care is just one way in which austerity is affecting my patients.
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Crumbling Britain: how austerity is hollowing out the heart of Tory Somerset
With two-thirds of children’s centres closing, West Somerset has the worst social mobility in the country – and families are…
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Crumbling Britain: thousands like my elderly aunt suffer as the public realm decays
The first in a New Statesman series examining the reality of the age of austerity – and how it is affecting people’s lives.
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