THE GUARDIAN: Meeting was delayed over details of youth mobility scheme allowing under-30s freedom to work and study in each other’s territory
The EU and the UK have announced they will hold their next summit to discuss the “reset” in relations between London and Brussels on 22 July.
The summit, which will be held in Brussels, has been delayed several times, with talks over a youth mobility scheme allowing under-30s to work, travel or study in each other’s territory deadlocked in recent weeks, fuelling speculation the summit would be postponed until the autumn.
António Costa, the president of the European Council, confirmed the date at the G7 meeting in Evian on Tuesday.
“Close EU-UK cooperation is essential for our shared European security, resilience and prosperity,” he said. “We are working closely together to make our upcoming second summit on 22 July a success.”
The UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, who could be facing a leadership challenge after this Thursday’s Makerfield byelection, said: “My Labour government is delivering on our promise to reset our relationship and put Britain at the heart of Europe.
“Together we will tackle the cost of living, boost jobs and create opportunities for young people.” » | Lisa O’Carroll, Senior correspondent | Tuesday, June 16, 2026
Showing posts with label UK. Show all posts
Showing posts with label UK. Show all posts
May 22, 2026
UK Pitched Single Market for Goods with EU in Pursuit of Deeper Trade Ties
THE GUARDIAN: Exclusive: Top British official presented idea in Brussels but sources say it was rebuffed
This screenshot has been taken from this Guardian article. | UK government sources denied the EU had definitively rejected a single market for goods. Photograph: Steve Parsons/PA
The UK government pitched the creation of a single market for goods with the EU as the cornerstone of an ambitious attempt to reintegrate British trade back into Europe, the Guardian can reveal.
During recent visits to Brussels, the Cabinet Office’s top official on EU relations, Michael Ellam, presented the idea to deepen the UK’s economic relationship with the bloc.
But in a sign of the challenge Keir Starmer’s government faces in securing growth through a closer relationship with Europe, sources told the Guardian that EU officials rejected the idea – and instead suggested a customs union or economic alignment through the European Economic Area.
Those ideas are impossible under Starmer’s red lines. He said in 2024 the UK would not rejoin the EU, the single market or customs union in his lifetime. The EEA – a single market of 30 mostly EU countries – would also mean accepting free movement of people, another Labour red line.
UK government sources however, denied that the EU had definitively rejected a single market for goods and said it was among a range of options being discussed before a summit tentatively pencilled in for 13 July. » | Jennifer Rankin in Brussels and Rowena Mason | Friday, May 22, 2026
The UK government pitched the creation of a single market for goods with the EU as the cornerstone of an ambitious attempt to reintegrate British trade back into Europe, the Guardian can reveal.
During recent visits to Brussels, the Cabinet Office’s top official on EU relations, Michael Ellam, presented the idea to deepen the UK’s economic relationship with the bloc.
But in a sign of the challenge Keir Starmer’s government faces in securing growth through a closer relationship with Europe, sources told the Guardian that EU officials rejected the idea – and instead suggested a customs union or economic alignment through the European Economic Area.
Those ideas are impossible under Starmer’s red lines. He said in 2024 the UK would not rejoin the EU, the single market or customs union in his lifetime. The EEA – a single market of 30 mostly EU countries – would also mean accepting free movement of people, another Labour red line.
UK government sources however, denied that the EU had definitively rejected a single market for goods and said it was among a range of options being discussed before a summit tentatively pencilled in for 13 July. » | Jennifer Rankin in Brussels and Rowena Mason | Friday, May 22, 2026
April 30, 2026
Rising Costs Forcing 3m UK Households to Skip Meals, Which? Report Finds
THE GUARDIAN: Consumer insight tracker shows 85% are worried about food prices and a majority think the economy will deteriorate
Three million UK households are being forced to skip meals as consumers resort to drastic measures to deal with rising costs, according to a Which? report published on Thursday.
The conflict in the Middle East and subsequent surge in oil and raw material prices has led to businesses preparing to raise prices, putting more pressure on household finances and hitting consumer confidence.
The Which? consumer insight tracker for the month to 10 April shows a fall in consumer confidence to -62. This is the lowest level since the peak of the cost of living crisis in 2022 and down from -56 the previous month.
Most adults – 71% – believe the UK economy will deteriorate in the next 12 months, with only 9% predicting it will get better. And 85% are now worried about food prices, up from 83% in February.
To manage rising costs, families are compromising on their shopping and eating habits, with 43% buying cheaper products, 37% purchasing more supermarket-branded budget items and 31% buying extra items when on sale.
On top of that, one in 10 UK households are now skipping meals and one in seven are going without some foods. » | Claudia Efemeni | Thursday, April 30, 2026
Three million UK households are being forced to skip meals as consumers resort to drastic measures to deal with rising costs, according to a Which? report published on Thursday.
The conflict in the Middle East and subsequent surge in oil and raw material prices has led to businesses preparing to raise prices, putting more pressure on household finances and hitting consumer confidence.
The Which? consumer insight tracker for the month to 10 April shows a fall in consumer confidence to -62. This is the lowest level since the peak of the cost of living crisis in 2022 and down from -56 the previous month.
Most adults – 71% – believe the UK economy will deteriorate in the next 12 months, with only 9% predicting it will get better. And 85% are now worried about food prices, up from 83% in February.
To manage rising costs, families are compromising on their shopping and eating habits, with 43% buying cheaper products, 37% purchasing more supermarket-branded budget items and 31% buying extra items when on sale.
On top of that, one in 10 UK households are now skipping meals and one in seven are going without some foods. » | Claudia Efemeni | Thursday, April 30, 2026
April 24, 2026
Trump Says He Will ‘Probably Put a Big Tariff on the UK’ If It Doesn’t Drop Digital Services Tax
THE GUARDIAN: US president accuses UK of thinking it can ‘make an easy buck’ from US tech companies, weeks after warning that UK–US trade deal can be changed
Donald Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on the UK if it does not drop its digital services tax on US social media firms.
The digital services tax, introduced in 2020, imposes a 2% levy on the revenues of several major US tech companies.
Speaking to reporters from the Oval Office on Thursday, the US president said: “We’ve been looking at it and we can meet that very easily by just putting a big tariff on the UK, so they better be careful.
“If they don’t drop the tax, we’ll probably put a big tariff on the UK.”
The tax targets companies whose worldwide revenues from digital activities exceed £500m ($673m), with more than £25m of the revenues from UK users.
Trump argued the laws, which have long been a source of tension in US-UK relations, targeted “top companies in the world”. » | Press Association | Friday, April 24, 2026
Donald Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on the UK if it does not drop its digital services tax on US social media firms.
The digital services tax, introduced in 2020, imposes a 2% levy on the revenues of several major US tech companies.
Speaking to reporters from the Oval Office on Thursday, the US president said: “We’ve been looking at it and we can meet that very easily by just putting a big tariff on the UK, so they better be careful.
“If they don’t drop the tax, we’ll probably put a big tariff on the UK.”
The tax targets companies whose worldwide revenues from digital activities exceed £500m ($673m), with more than £25m of the revenues from UK users.
Trump argued the laws, which have long been a source of tension in US-UK relations, targeted “top companies in the world”. » | Press Association | Friday, April 24, 2026
February 01, 2026
Is Trump Destroying the Western Alliance? Will Europe Ally with China?
January 25, 2026
Europe Needs a Dramatic Strategic Revolution - Now: Historian Robert Kagan
Jan 20, 2026 | Investigative journalist and co-founder of the Nerve Carole Cadwalladr talks to conservative historian and former historian Robert Kagan about the critical geopolitical moment we are in. With the Trump administration moving rapidly towards dictatorship, Kagan says, European governments need to completely change tack, fast. “I feel like the administration has done everything except climb up on the roof of the White House and yell what they're going to do,” says Kagan. ”Trump is already talking about how you don't really need these midterm elections.” "Europe needs to become self-sufficient in both military and economic terms" and without drastic action, “risks becoming a collection of fiefdoms of the great empires of the world... Some of them under Russia's thumb, some under America's thumb, maybe some influenced more by China.”
The Nerve is a new, fiercely independent media platform covering culture, politics and tech. Set up by a collective of five former Guardian journalists, including the investigative reporter Carole Cadwalladr, who believe that the UK needs more truly independent journalism as we have never been more in need of an independent, fearless press. Having nerve is the key quality the world needs now.
The Nerve is a new, fiercely independent media platform covering culture, politics and tech. Set up by a collective of five former Guardian journalists, including the investigative reporter Carole Cadwalladr, who believe that the UK needs more truly independent journalism as we have never been more in need of an independent, fearless press. Having nerve is the key quality the world needs now.
February 21, 2025
Apple Pulls Data Protection Tool after UK Government Security Row | BBC News
Feb 21, 2025 | Apple has removed its highest level data security tool from customers in the UK after the government demanded access to user data.
Advanced Data Protection (ADP) means only account holders can view items such as photos or documents they have stored online through a process known as end-to-end encryption.
But earlier this month, the UK government asked for the right to see the data, which currently not even Apple can access.
Now the tech giant has decided it will no longer be possible to activate ADP in the UK. It means eventually not all UK customer data stored on iCloud - Apple's cloud storage service - will be fully encrypted.
Advanced Data Protection (ADP) means only account holders can view items such as photos or documents they have stored online through a process known as end-to-end encryption.
But earlier this month, the UK government asked for the right to see the data, which currently not even Apple can access.
Now the tech giant has decided it will no longer be possible to activate ADP in the UK. It means eventually not all UK customer data stored on iCloud - Apple's cloud storage service - will be fully encrypted.
December 26, 2024
Why Poland Will Overtake British Economy by 2030
Brexit was the stupidest, stupidest, stupidest decision that Britons have taken since World War II. Only a fool would have advocated that the UK exit the European Union, and we all know who that fool was! Unfortunately, there were many Britons who were ill-informed enough to follow him. Nobody with any understanding of economics could have voted to leave the largest, most successful customs union and single market in the whole world, more especially when that single market is right next door, on our doorstep. There will be a special place in Hell reserved for the loudmouth who pushed for this ridiculous outcome. Especially for a country such as ours which is anyway in steep decline. Now, not only have we lost an empire, but we have lost our influence and greatest economic opportunity that was not only open to us but to which we belonged. Would that clowns joined circuses instead of entering politics! – © Mark Alexander
October 24, 2024
October 10, 2024
UK Must Prepare for Widespread Road Pricing, Says Infrastructure Tsar
THE GUARDIAN: Sir John Armitt says charging per mile ‘inevitable’, with move to electric vehicles likely to create £35bn tax shortfall
Britain must prepare for the widespread use of road pricing to make up a £35bn shortfall in tax revenues from the transition to electric vehicles, the country’s top infrastructure adviser has said.
Sir John Armitt, the chair of the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC), said it was time for a “proper public debate” about the future funding of the road network and other critical projects.
“It’s politically a very difficult issue isn’t it? But many people will say road pricing is inevitable. Personally, I don’t see why it should be any different to anything else,” he told journalists on Thursday.
“We pay for all our other infrastructure services as we use them, and we pay for driving on the road, as we use it, via petrol tax. And if you’re going to lose the petrol tax, at [more than] £30bn a year, what is government going to replace it with?” » | Richard Partington and Gwyn Topham | Thursday, October 10, 2024
Britain must prepare for the widespread use of road pricing to make up a £35bn shortfall in tax revenues from the transition to electric vehicles, the country’s top infrastructure adviser has said.
Sir John Armitt, the chair of the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC), said it was time for a “proper public debate” about the future funding of the road network and other critical projects.
“It’s politically a very difficult issue isn’t it? But many people will say road pricing is inevitable. Personally, I don’t see why it should be any different to anything else,” he told journalists on Thursday.
“We pay for all our other infrastructure services as we use them, and we pay for driving on the road, as we use it, via petrol tax. And if you’re going to lose the petrol tax, at [more than] £30bn a year, what is government going to replace it with?” » | Richard Partington and Gwyn Topham | Thursday, October 10, 2024
August 19, 2024
UK’s 100-Year Economic Decline - No 1 to Failed State
February 08, 2024
Gordon Brown Slams ‘Obscene’ Levels of Destitution in the UK
THE GUARDIAN: Former PM criticises ministers for ‘moral outrage’ of ‘systematically shredding’ social security system
Britain is in the throes of a hidden poverty “epidemic”, with the worst-affected households living in squalor and going without food, heating and everyday basics such as clean clothes and toothpaste, the former UK prime minister Gordon Brown has said.
Brown accused the government of creating a wall of silence around “obscene” levels of destitution in the UK and criticised ministers for “systematically shredding” a social security system that had once provided a safety net for the poorest.
He said it was a “moral outrage” that the government was unwilling to tackle a social emergency that had created millions of forgotten and voiceless victims, one he compared in an article for the Guardian with the Post Office scandal in terms of the scale of ministerial neglect. » | Patrick Butler, Social policy editor | Thursday, February 8, 2024
Britain is in the throes of a hidden poverty “epidemic”, with the worst-affected households living in squalor and going without food, heating and everyday basics such as clean clothes and toothpaste, the former UK prime minister Gordon Brown has said.
Brown accused the government of creating a wall of silence around “obscene” levels of destitution in the UK and criticised ministers for “systematically shredding” a social security system that had once provided a safety net for the poorest.
He said it was a “moral outrage” that the government was unwilling to tackle a social emergency that had created millions of forgotten and voiceless victims, one he compared in an article for the Guardian with the Post Office scandal in terms of the scale of ministerial neglect. » | Patrick Butler, Social policy editor | Thursday, February 8, 2024
January 27, 2024
Sir Michael Marmot on 'Grim Reality' of Poverty in Britain | LBC
Millions in UK Need to Double Income to Escape Poverty | Channel 4 News
Jan 23, 2024 | When the cost of everything is spiralling, from housing to fuel and food, millions of ordinary people are facing an ever greater struggle to get by.
Now a new report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation says millions of people in the UK would need to double their income to escape poverty. Their damning report reveals the extent of hardship and desperation across the country - describing it as "social failure, at scale".
Now a new report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation says millions of people in the UK would need to double their income to escape poverty. Their damning report reveals the extent of hardship and desperation across the country - describing it as "social failure, at scale".
November 05, 2023
UK ‘in Violation of International Law’ over Poverty Levels, Says UN Envoy
GUARDIAN INTERNATIONAL: Exclusive: Special rapporteur Olivier De Schutter to urge ministers to increase welfare spending on visit to country this week
Poverty levels in the UK are “simply not acceptable” and the government is violating international law, the United Nations’ poverty envoy has said ahead of a visit to the country this week, when he will urge ministers to increase welfare spending.
Olivier De Schutter, the UN’s special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, cited research showing universal credit payments of £85 a week for single adults over 25 were “grossly insufficient” and described the UK’s main welfare system as “a leaking bucket”.
In an interview with the Guardian five years after his predecessor, Philip Alston, angered the Conservative government by accusing it of the “systematic immiseration of a significant part of the British population”, the Belgian lawyer risked a fresh confrontation by saying: “Things have got worse.” » | Robert Booth, Social affairs correspondent | Sunday, November 5, 2023
UK's welfare system is cruel and misogynistic, says UN expert after damning report on poverty: Britain’s welfare system is so sexist it may as well have been compiled by “a group of misogynists in a room,” a UN expert has claimed. / Philip Alston, the UN’s rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, warned that poverty in the UK is a “political choice” and that compassion and concern had been “outsourced” in favour of tax cuts for the rich. / In a damning 24-page report he brands levels of child poverty “not just a disgrace, but a social calamity and an economic disaster” and said that limiting benefit payments to two children was as “forced and physical” as China’s one-child policy. »
Poverty levels in the UK are “simply not acceptable” and the government is violating international law, the United Nations’ poverty envoy has said ahead of a visit to the country this week, when he will urge ministers to increase welfare spending.
Olivier De Schutter, the UN’s special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, cited research showing universal credit payments of £85 a week for single adults over 25 were “grossly insufficient” and described the UK’s main welfare system as “a leaking bucket”.
In an interview with the Guardian five years after his predecessor, Philip Alston, angered the Conservative government by accusing it of the “systematic immiseration of a significant part of the British population”, the Belgian lawyer risked a fresh confrontation by saying: “Things have got worse.” » | Robert Booth, Social affairs correspondent | Sunday, November 5, 2023
UK's welfare system is cruel and misogynistic, says UN expert after damning report on poverty: Britain’s welfare system is so sexist it may as well have been compiled by “a group of misogynists in a room,” a UN expert has claimed. / Philip Alston, the UN’s rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, warned that poverty in the UK is a “political choice” and that compassion and concern had been “outsourced” in favour of tax cuts for the rich. / In a damning 24-page report he brands levels of child poverty “not just a disgrace, but a social calamity and an economic disaster” and said that limiting benefit payments to two children was as “forced and physical” as China’s one-child policy. »
October 03, 2023
US Wants UK to Open Up Its Agriculture Markets as Part of New Trade Deal
GUARDIAN INTERNATIONAL: Potentially wide-ranging agreement could be unachievable due to British objections to lower animal welfare standards
The US is pushing for Britain to open up its agricultural markets to US traders as part of a new economic agreement that would fall just short of a free trade agreement.
Washington and London have begun negotiations over a “foundational trade partnership”, which would cover subjects such as digital trade, labour protections and agriculture, according to documents seen by the Guardian and first revealed by Politico.
The partnership would not guarantee any particular levels of access for service providers to offer their products in each other’s countries, meaning it would fall short of the full free trade agreement that was promised by Brexit supporters after the leave vote.
The negotiations could run into trouble, especially over agriculture. Previous talks over a free trade agreement stalled in part because the UK refused to provide access to American food products such as chlorine-washed chicken or hormone-injected beef. » | Kiran Stacey, Political correspondent | Tuesday, October 3, 2023
The US is pushing for Britain to open up its agricultural markets to US traders as part of a new economic agreement that would fall just short of a free trade agreement.
Washington and London have begun negotiations over a “foundational trade partnership”, which would cover subjects such as digital trade, labour protections and agriculture, according to documents seen by the Guardian and first revealed by Politico.
The partnership would not guarantee any particular levels of access for service providers to offer their products in each other’s countries, meaning it would fall short of the full free trade agreement that was promised by Brexit supporters after the leave vote.
The negotiations could run into trouble, especially over agriculture. Previous talks over a free trade agreement stalled in part because the UK refused to provide access to American food products such as chlorine-washed chicken or hormone-injected beef. » | Kiran Stacey, Political correspondent | Tuesday, October 3, 2023
July 18, 2022
The Guardian View on Tory Economics: For Haves, Not for Have-nots
THE GUARDIAN – EDITORIAL: Whoever is the next prime minister will likely resurrect a form of capitalism that almost broke the economy in 2008
‘None of the candidates to lead the Tory party show any sign that reducing poverty and inequality will be a priority.’ Photograph: Victoria Jones/PA
It is no coincidence that the modern-day Conservative party was born just when Britain was its most equal, in the late 70s. Thatcherism was a counter-revolution in economic thinking. Its aim was to roll back what had until then been a successful model of state intervention in favour of business interests. During the 1970s, energy price shocks produced inflation. Yet this was attributed by rightwing thinkers to slack government fiscal and monetary policy. When policy was tightened, the lengthening dole queues that resulted were blamed on the power that trade unions had gained after decades of full employment.
Thatcherism pinned the sense of the country being adrift on egalitarianism. Its supporters argued that economic progress needed more, not less, inequality. Tories first identified their enemies and then opportunistically scapegoated them for the country’s plight. That ploy worked when they were insurgents, but today’s Conservative party has been in power for 12 years. It is struggling to repeat the trick. Voters do not recognise trade union leaders as “barons” because they do not think of their status as being more privileged than that of their members or the general public. » | Editorial | Sunday, July 17, 2022
It is no coincidence that the modern-day Conservative party was born just when Britain was its most equal, in the late 70s. Thatcherism was a counter-revolution in economic thinking. Its aim was to roll back what had until then been a successful model of state intervention in favour of business interests. During the 1970s, energy price shocks produced inflation. Yet this was attributed by rightwing thinkers to slack government fiscal and monetary policy. When policy was tightened, the lengthening dole queues that resulted were blamed on the power that trade unions had gained after decades of full employment.
Thatcherism pinned the sense of the country being adrift on egalitarianism. Its supporters argued that economic progress needed more, not less, inequality. Tories first identified their enemies and then opportunistically scapegoated them for the country’s plight. That ploy worked when they were insurgents, but today’s Conservative party has been in power for 12 years. It is struggling to repeat the trick. Voters do not recognise trade union leaders as “barons” because they do not think of their status as being more privileged than that of their members or the general public. » | Editorial | Sunday, July 17, 2022
June 22, 2022
It Feels Like Boris Johnson’s Britain Is Finally ‘Sinking Giggling Into the Sea’
THE NEW YORK TIMES: LONDON — For Boris Johnson, Britain’s embattled and scandal-ridden prime minister, nowhere is safe.
On Thursday, that may become inescapably clear. Two local elections — one in a traditional Tory area in South Devon that the party has controlled almost continuously since 1885, the other in a postindustrial seat in North England that the Tories took from Labour for the first time in 90 years in 2019 — will deliver a decisive assessment of Mr. Johnson’s flailing popularity. As things stand, the Conservatives are set to lose both.
Mr. Johnson’s ability to win over such disparate people and places — affluent farmers and neglected manufacturers, the shires in the South and old Labour heartlands in the North — once ensured his position at the top of the Conservative Party. Yet now, as Britain hovers on the brink of economic recession, the constituencies that previously united around the prime minister appear to be rejecting him. For Mr. Johnson, his authority frayed by a recent no confidence vote, a double defeat would leave his tenure hanging by a thread.
But the Conservatives’ problems are much bigger than the prime minister. After 12 years in office, under three different leaders, the Conservatives have collectively set the stage for Britain’s woes. The balance sheet is dire: Wages haven’t risen in real terms since 2010, austerity has hollowed out local communities, and regional inequality has deepened. Britain’s protracted departure from the European Union, pursued by the Conservatives without a clear plan, has only made matters worse. » | Samuel Earle * | Wednesday, June 22, 2022
* Mr. Earle is a British journalist who writes about politics and culture.
UK Inflation Rises to 9.1%, Its Highest Rate in 40 Years
THE GUARDIAN: Headline CPI rate will add to cost of living crisis, fuelled by rises in food and transport costs
UK inflation has increased to 9.1%, its highest rate in 40 years amid record prices for petrol and the soaring cost of food.
The figures from the Office for National Statistics showed an increase in May from 9% in April, as measured by the consumer price index, in a reading that matched the forecasts of City economists. In a fresh high, the headline inflation rate has hit a level not seen since February 1982, piling pressure on households in the cost of living crisis.
Inflation is being fuelled by food and non-alcoholic drink prices, which are rising at the fastest annual rate since 2009, the ONS said, with the most dramatic increases seen in the cost of bread, cereals and meat.
Soaring prices for petrol and diesel also drove up inflation in May, adding to the pressure on motorists and business costs with a 32.8% jump motor fuels over the past year – the biggest annual increase on records dating back to 1989. » | Richard Partington and Rowena Mason | Wednesday, June 22, 2022
Tory ex-minister says plan to raise state pensions by 10% is ‘ludicrous’: Jim O’Neill scathing about decision to help pensioners while forcing real-terms pay cuts on public sector workers »
UK inflation has increased to 9.1%, its highest rate in 40 years amid record prices for petrol and the soaring cost of food.
The figures from the Office for National Statistics showed an increase in May from 9% in April, as measured by the consumer price index, in a reading that matched the forecasts of City economists. In a fresh high, the headline inflation rate has hit a level not seen since February 1982, piling pressure on households in the cost of living crisis.
Inflation is being fuelled by food and non-alcoholic drink prices, which are rising at the fastest annual rate since 2009, the ONS said, with the most dramatic increases seen in the cost of bread, cereals and meat.
Soaring prices for petrol and diesel also drove up inflation in May, adding to the pressure on motorists and business costs with a 32.8% jump motor fuels over the past year – the biggest annual increase on records dating back to 1989. » | Richard Partington and Rowena Mason | Wednesday, June 22, 2022
Tory ex-minister says plan to raise state pensions by 10% is ‘ludicrous’: Jim O’Neill scathing about decision to help pensioners while forcing real-terms pay cuts on public sector workers »
May 01, 2022
In the Name of Job Flexibility, ‘Uberisation’ Is Spreading Its Tentacles across Society
THE GUARDIAN – OPINION: From health workers to beauticians, cleaners to academics, the erosion of our rights at work is setting us back a hundred years
In the late 18th century, as the impact of the Industrial Revolution bit into the lives of the nascent working class, the high cost of fuel, one study notes, “forced inhabitants of many southern regions to abandon home cooking”. Fuel costs were much greater in the south than in the north. As a result, Frederic Morton Eden observed in The State of the Poor (1797), “the culinary preparations of the Northern peasant are so much diversified, and his table so often supplied with hot dishes”, whereas in the south, working-class families could not afford to boil or bake potatoes, so were forced to buy cheap white bread and eat dinner cold.
Because it was more expensive to cook at home than to buy shop-made bread, there were more bakeries per head of population in poor areas such as Hampshire than in richer regions such as Yorkshire. More than 200 years on and we’re back in a Britain in which many poor families are being “forced to abandon home cooking” because of the high cost of fuel. Not only has there been an explosion in the use of food banks, but many food bank users “are declining products such as potatoes and other root veg because they can’t afford to boil them”. » | Kenan Malik | Sunday, May 1, 2022
In the late 18th century, as the impact of the Industrial Revolution bit into the lives of the nascent working class, the high cost of fuel, one study notes, “forced inhabitants of many southern regions to abandon home cooking”. Fuel costs were much greater in the south than in the north. As a result, Frederic Morton Eden observed in The State of the Poor (1797), “the culinary preparations of the Northern peasant are so much diversified, and his table so often supplied with hot dishes”, whereas in the south, working-class families could not afford to boil or bake potatoes, so were forced to buy cheap white bread and eat dinner cold.
Because it was more expensive to cook at home than to buy shop-made bread, there were more bakeries per head of population in poor areas such as Hampshire than in richer regions such as Yorkshire. More than 200 years on and we’re back in a Britain in which many poor families are being “forced to abandon home cooking” because of the high cost of fuel. Not only has there been an explosion in the use of food banks, but many food bank users “are declining products such as potatoes and other root veg because they can’t afford to boil them”. » | Kenan Malik | Sunday, May 1, 2022
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