From rent strikes to squatting, a new show reveals how people have managed to keep a roof over their head in London – and the mould and astronomical rents that persist Charles Booth’s pioneering poverty maps of Victorian London show a vivid colour-coded warren of streets, alleyways and slums tightly packed together. Those marked black and dark blue were classed as being “very poor”, defined by “chronic want”. The light blue ones were poor – “18s to 21s a week for a moderate family”. Pink streets housed those who were “fairly comfortable”, and those where the wealthy lived were marked in yellow. The maps by the British social reformer are the 19th-century equivalent of the modern-day indices of deprivation , which rank every geographic area of the UK by its level of social and economic disa
BBC Sport columnist Tony Pulis explains what Spurs will get from their team-bonding trip to Spain, and how differently managers built team morale in his day.
Changes have been implemented by the FA from this season with under-7s dropping from playing 5v5 to 3v3 in England - could it help to change the DNA of English football?
Delays from building safety regulator mean Archway Heights is beset by security and vandalism problems It’s a sunny day with bright blue skies in north London, but you wouldn’t know that in Natasha Dyett’s flat. Most of the rooms are consumed in shadow, while her teenage son’s bedroom is almost completely dark, apart from a few slits of light coming through the window. She lives in Archway Heights, a nine-storey block of flats that has been covered in scaffolding for more than six years for cladding works that still haven’t started. Continue reading...
Exclusive: NHS Alliance’s acute care director says centralisation of services ‘inevitable’ to ensure safe care Why are some NHS maternity units facing closure? Up to 20 maternity units in England will have to shut to ensure mothers and babies receive safe care amid shortages of doctors and rising caesarean section rates, an NHS leader has warned. Matthew Hopkins, the NHS Alliance’s director for acute care, said centralising childbirth services into fewer hospitals was “inevitable” and the “right thing”, but would lead to a political backlash against unpopular changes. Continue reading...
London-based property investors deny selling licences to casinos claiming to be based on Anjouan, a tiny Indian Ocean island The island of Anjouan, rising out of the Indian Ocean between Mozambique and Madagascar, is a corner of the Earth that few people have heard of, let alone laid eyes on. Known as Nzwani in the local language, this tiny volcanic island – one of a collection that make up the Union of Comoros – counts ylang-ylang oil and vanilla among its chief exports. Continue reading...
Letter from 150 scientists, MPs and activists calls for action to protect lower-income and minority-ethnic communities The government must hold an inquiry into the unequal impacts of air pollution, 150 scientists, MPs and activists have urged. Research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies shows that across England, lower-income areas have persistently higher levels of air pollution than wealthier areas. Continue reading...
When we can’t even afford to rent or buy somewhere to live, we have to ask: did we give the financial sector too much power? Leilani Farha is the former UN special rapporteur on adequate housing In the summer of 2021, I visited a homeless community in a park in Toronto, Canada, and spoke to one of the residents. He was living in a tent in the shadow of brand new skyscrapers, and had been homeless for about five years. At one point he swivelled around, pointed up at a crane on the skyline, and said: “Who are they building those for? Definitely not for me.” He was right. And he captured something experienced by ordinary people around the world: the growing conviction that the housing system is no longer tethered to their needs. What he was pointing at is not just a housing crisis. It is a cr
Merging units could improve safety, says NHS leader, but leave women in rural and coastal areas travelling further to give birth Up to 20 maternity units in England may have to shut, NHS leader warns The NHS needs to cut the number of hospitals providing maternity services in England to help keep patients safe, a health service leader who has run four different NHS trusts has said. Speaking to the Guardian, Matthew Hopkins, the NHS Alliance’s lead director for acute care, recognised that such changes would be controversial and unpopular, mainly affecting hospitals in rural and coastal areas and forcing pregnant women to travel further to give birth. Continue reading...
With care shortfalls biting across the country, the National-led coalition has been accused of letting chronic underfunding worsen Back when she was healthy, Jane Harrison worked for the community – securing money for playgrounds, getting kids into sport and making sure her small town in New Zealand’s South Island was ready if an earthquake struck. Now, she and her husband, Shaun Fitzgerald, 65, are both on disability assistance. Last year, when Fitzgerald – a roofer – was waiting for back surgery for spinal stenosis, Harrison left her job to help look after him at home. The operation in August 2025 was not as effective as hoped. He has since been back into the emergency department in intense pain, waiting for hours with severe cramping, she says. “We called the paramedics recently and the
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