Running down the UK’s services was a political choice. But our leaders don’t seem to grasp basic cause and effect

ne of the central failings of the post-2010 Conservative governments is their inability to grasp the interconnectedness of public services, public health and the welfare state. If people fall below the poverty line, their health worsens. Stress and malnutrition induced by poverty have lasting effects. Austerity stripped back preventative, early intervention services. The pandemic hit front-line health and care services that haven’t been able to recover, generating acute crisis, one of the results of which