BBC Panorama has reported that life expectancy for men in large parts of Stockton is only 64 years.
In nearby Yarm, life expectancy for men is 82.
According to Professor Claire Bambra from Newcastle University who led a five-year study of health inequality in Stockton, the cause is social class.
She rightly pointed out that “the poor are dying younger because they have less money in order to live a healthy life”.
Poor people can’t afford a healthy nutritious diet. They can’t afford the fees for gym and golf club membership. Moreover, they are more likely to have to undertake arduous and monotonous work and have very little economic security in their lives.
It is no surprise therefore that many poor people try to escape from the daily grind of life through misuse of alcohol and drugs.
Given that 21st Century capitalism is on average robbing poor, working class people of a quarter of their lives, then one would expect Labour MPs to be going berserk about the state of the poor in Great Britain today.
However, with the exception of the supporters of Jeremy Corbyn, the majority of New Labour types have said nothing or very little, because they don’t care about the poor.
Instead, they have chosen to make up stories about non-existent anti-Semitism problems in the Labour Party.
They are an absolute disgrace.
John Gilmore, Bishop Auckland
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