- John Sentamu, 64, said poverty in Brazil should not make Britain ‘smug’
- Figures show babies born in Surrey live 20 years longer than in Bradford
- As a nation we need to ‘protect the principles’ of the NHS, he added
11:05 EST, 9 June 2014
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12:14 EST, 9 June 2014
Shock: Dr John Sentamu said life expectancy gaps in Britain were a ‘human rights abuse’
The Archbishop of York has said Britons should not be ‘smug’ when they see poverty in Brazil because gaps in life expectancy in the UK are a ‘human rights abuse’.
John Sentamu said shocking photos from Rio de Janiero ahead of the World Cup, where plush hotels sit alongside poverty-stricken favelas, were not the only story of inequality in the world.
Instead he said poverty, poor education, unemployment, high crime levels and isolation affected towns, cities, villages and the countryside in Britain and the rest of the European Union.
The 64-year-old Archbishop, who is leading an inquiry into whether to introduce a national ‘living wage’, told a conference today Britain was lagging behind the rest of Europe.
The nation needs to tackle health and income inequality, youth unemployment and relatively low levels of happiness in children compared with other countries, he told the international fairness conference in York.
He singled out gaps in life expectancy between richest and poorest neighbourhoods saying that this was ‘perhaps the biggest human rights abuse’ in rich developed countries – worse, perhaps than a similar period of detention without trial.
‘Within almost all British cities there are differences in life expectancy between the richest and poorest neighbourhoods of anywhere from five to 12 years,’ he added.
Dr Sentamu spoke after figures revealed babies born in leafy suburbs of Guildford, Surrey, can expect to live up to 20 years longer than those in Bradford, West Yorkshire.
Boys born in Guildford and Waverly can expect to live to 70.3 years and girls 71.3 years – but 220 miles away, babies in Bradford can expect to live to only 52.5 years for boys and 51.6 for girls.
The figures were released in March by the Office for National Statistics.
Dr Sentamu said he believed a large part of the difference in life expectancies was due to ‘psycho social’ factors such as social status and experiences in early childhood.
Wide gulf: Figures released in March (pictured) showed a huge gap in life expectancy across England
‘As a nation we need to protect the principles of (Aneurin) Bevan that allow each man, woman and child access to health care whenever they need it,’ he said.
‘But we also need to work hard on building safe and caring communities in which people can flourish.’
He added that income inequality seemed to make societies ‘more anti-social’.
‘By increasing social status differences – and social distances – greater inequality increases all the problems associated with social status – drugs, violence, poor educational performance, teenage births,’ he said.
‘Greater income inequality has so many damaging effects because it amplifies and strengthens all the ways in which social class imprints itself on us throughout life.’
Have-nots: Dr Sentamu said images of poverty in Rio de Janiero (pictured) shouldn’t make Britons feel ‘smug’
If we want a happier and less divided society, he said, than reducing the scale of income differences between rich and poor would be an ‘important step forward’, he said.
Dr Sentamu’s spoke in November of his shock at reading of a rise in hospital admissions for malnutrition and food poverty within his own diocese, a phenomenon he described as ‘a dark stain on our consciences’.
He said the need for Church action was now more urgent than ever as ‘hard-pressed’ people found they were on a ‘down escalator’ in life.
Dr Sentamu is the chairman of the Living Wage Commission, which is examining the case for introducing a “Living Wage†of £8.80 in London and £7.65 outside the capital.
The commission is due to report later this month and its findings could be made law by the government.
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ajoke,
Universe, United Kingdom,
2 hours ago
The privatisation of the NHS will affect Southerners just as much as Northerners and nobody voted for it it’s a shame this man did not get the top job in the Church instead of an ex Eton Banker !
ajoke,
Universe, United Kingdom,
2 hours ago
Eve dear can I have a list of names you use please – thank you!
ajoke,
Universe, United Kingdom,
2 hours ago
His Grace will have arrived years ago when we had a much fairer and just society with people in full employment long before Thatcher with her hatred of the poor he has every right to be here AND he is right in everything he says !
JohnDee,
Cognac,
6 hours ago
This fellow should return to his homeland, Uganda, and try to influence very early death, like that of thousands of babies and children. I am just getting sick and tired of people who have been welcomed to our country continually criticising it.
JohnDee,
Cognac,
6 hours ago
This fellow should return to his homeland, Uganda, and try to influence very early death, like that of thousands of babies and children. I am just getting sick and tired of people who have been welcomed to our country continually criticising it.
TishTash,
Manc, Western Sahara,
6 hours ago
Ok Dr Sentamu and what exactly are you doing about it apart from preaching to the rest of us?
Rudolf Hucker,
England and France, United Kingdom,
6 hours ago
The church knows all about rights abuse……hypocrite.
André,
Peckham, United Kingdom,
7 hours ago
The figures from ONS are for healthy life expectancy (HLE) which relates to years lived without disease. The article is very misleading in that it only discusses life expectancy at birth. While there are huge health inequalities within and between different parts of the UK, discussing life expectancy at birth and using data for HLE is unscientific to say the least.
ajoke,
Universe, United Kingdom,
7 hours ago
Many rich southerners are the most horrible selfish people on gods earth – poverty is just a game of striping our Country of its assets ex council house tenants buying up family council houses and mocking the poor – speak up your Grace I support you as all decent minded people will!
2 of 3 replies
Saltire Sue,
Edinburgh, United Kingdom,
4 hours ago
highIQ,
west midlands, United Kingdom,
3 hours ago
Daley Male,
London, United Kingdom,
7 hours ago
Sitting on your arris all day collecting benefits is not healthy, is it a suprise that people who doss die younger?
Active body, mid and soul adds 10-20 years onto your life expectancy.
This man is a jumped up fool.
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