Food poverty in UK has reached level of 'public health emergency', warn experts - UK Politics - UK. In a letter to the British Medical Journal, a group of doctors and senior academics from the Medical Research Council and two leading universities said that the effect of Government policies on vulnerable people’s ability to afford food needed to be “urgently” monitored. A surge in the number of people requiring emergency food aid, a decrease in the amount of calories consumed by British families, and a doubling of the number of malnutrition cases seen at English hospitals represent “all the signs of a public health emergency that could go unrecognised until it is too late to take preventative action,” they write.
Despite mounting evidence for a growing food poverty crisis in the UK, ministers maintain there is “no robust evidence” of a link between sweeping welfare reforms and a rise in the use of food banks. He called the BMJ letter a “timely warning” and criticised the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) for keeping its report into the problem “under wraps”. Police 'too busy' to walk the streets and prevent crime. Standard and Poor's says UK to keep AAA rating. 28 July 2012Last updated at 02:28 ET Standard and Poor' s said it expected the UK economy to steadily strengthen The UK will keep its top AAA credit rating, the Standard & Poor's (S&P) agency has said.
It expects the British economy to pick up in the second half of this year, despite a slip into recession earlier in 2012. That rating reflects a stable outlook and S&P said it expected the government would keep budgets tight. Chancellor George Osborne said it was a reminder the world had confidence that Britain was dealing with its debt. The International Monetary Fund last week said the UK should slow its budget cuts if growth did not recover. Its annual report on the UK said that tax rises and spending cuts introduced since the spring of 2010 had cut growth by 2.5% over the past two years. 'Absorb shocks' S&P has now said in a statement: "In our view, monetary flexibility remains a key credit strength owing to the British pound sterling's role as a global reserve currency.
Which country's debt is 1000% of GDP? Crise économique - Royaume-Uni : services publics à vendre. Shock as British deficit equals that of Greece - Business News, Jonathan Loynes, chief European economist at Capital Economics commented: "The figures suggest that this year's budget deficit could exceed that of Greece and further underline the need for more decisive action to improve the fiscal position when the economy is strong enough to withstand it. "It is clear that a more credible plan to restore the public finances to health will be required shortly after the general election in order to keep the markets and rating agencies at bay. " January usually shows a healthy surplus, as tax receipts flow in from City bonuses and payments made before the final deadline for self-assessment on 31 January.
Last year, for example, revenues exceeded public spending by over £5bn in the month. This year, tax receipts across the board were unusually depressed, reflecting the depth of the recession in the 2008-09 tax year. British debt is also much longer term than that of Greece, making re-financing the debt easier. . £180bn.