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Danny Dorling talking on � Epidemiology: abandoning the social: How deaths in England and Wales rose in a year by 5%, in Scotland by 9%, but epidemiologists were too busy with the genome to notice the bills of mortality, International Journal of Epidemiology Conference, University of Bristol, October 7th 2016.

“It is government policy to increase inequality, and to make things harder for families with children. And that will have an adverse impact on the health of the children, the health of those children when they become adults, and the health of the parents who are trying to make ends meet.� Professor Sir Michael Marmot, former BMA President, speaking at the 2016 BMA Special Representative Meeting.

On the day of the EU referendum data from the ONS revealed there had been 52,400 more deaths in the year to June 2015 as compared to the same period a year before.

Death rates in England and Wales rose overall by 9% and by 12% for those aged 90+; by 10% for those aged 85-89; 7% for those aged 80-84; 5% for those aged 75-70; and by 3% for those aged 55-74. These rate rises were unprecedented. They were attributed to dementia and Alzheimer’s, with influenza being suggested as a contributory factor. Austerity played a major role. It was those with long term care needs who were dying earlier. The health and social services crises will worsen further as national finances worsen and as it becomes harder to recruit and retain staff from the European mainland (death rates only fell for adults aged 25-29, the age group containing the most healthy migrants).

Trends in UK self-reported health

Danny Dorling: Talking about Brexit on BBC Newsnight 29th September 2016, starting in Tewksbury:

Most people who voted to leave the EU lived in the South of England. Most were social class A, B or C1. The middle classes may not have been the groups who were most likely to vote to leave, but because of both their absolute numbers and their high rate of turnout they were key to determining the final result.

All is not well in Middle England � . Young adults had begun to stop voting in national elections from the early 1990s onwards, so why were we surprised they did not turn out in referenda later? Speculation and government intervention to boost prices ever upwards has seen the housing market become unaffordable. Health and social services have been cut following the introduction of austerity along with state spending in education. In hindsight why were we so surprised when people voted in such large numbers for anything but this?

Illustration by Joseph P Kelly