The Leader podcast: How energy crisis and austerity fuel London child poverty

We’re collectively gritting our teeth with April approaching, preparing for energy bills soaring in a crisis fuelled by surging demand in Asia, Russia-Ukraine tensions and a spike in natural gas prices.

But after years of Conservative austerity policies and a drop in life expectancy caused by Covid, the UK’s top health inequalities expert is warning London’s poorest families are going to be hit hardest by the energy crisis.

Professor Sir Michael Marmot, a highly-awarded epidemiologist and director of UCL’s Institute of Health Equity has been researching for decades how social factors influence health, particularly the body’s cardiovascular system.