Andy Burnham promised urgent action on the cost of living – the heat is now on chancellor John Healey to deliver it | Alfie Stirling

As Keir Starmer found, it takes more than words alone to warm a tepid bath. Voters reserve the greatest punishment for the politicians they think acted too little, or too late, to prevent them getting poorer. For Andy Burnham, much will now depend on whether he has got the right ideas, and in John Healey…

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Andy Burnham to scrap digital ID to focus on cost of living in first major policy pledge

“This reprioritisation of public resource shows a change in direction towards improving everyday life and strengthening local economies over expensive national government schemes.” Plans for a digital ID scheme had initially been introduced by Sir Keir ahead of Labour’s conference last year. At the time, Starmer argued that mandatory digital ID for workers would make…

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We are living fewer years in good health: Is the NHS part of the problem?

Some doctors are testing new approaches, seeing if tweaking the way NHS works can deliver better health. Dr David Blane is a GP in Glasgow’s Possilpark, and academic lead for GPs at the Deep End, an organisation led by doctors in Scotland’s most deprived communities. He says patients in these neighbourhoods typically develop multiple long‑term conditions 10 to 15…

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‘A beans and rice diet’: Government watchdog finds issues with military cost of living pay

For soldiers stationed in some of the world’s most expensive areas, an important financial buffer meant to offset high prices may not always reflect the cost of living, a government watchdog found. The Department of Defense uses location-specific surveys and price and military spending data to set cost-of-living allowances, known as COLAs. In a report…

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