Labour under fire for its 'morally repugnant' impact on the vulnerable

Campaigners claim it is "morally repugnant" that vulnerable people are bearing the brunt of spending cuts after new official figures showed a record 4.5 million children are living in poverty in the UK.

- Patrick Butler, Phillip Inman, Jessica Murray

The child poverty figures, released yesterday, showed an extra 100,000 children were living below the breadline in the year to April 2024 - the final full year of statistics for the Conservative government and the third year running it has increased.

Food poverty and hunger also rose, according to official surveys, with 300,000 more children in households reliant on foodbanks over the previous 12 months, and an increase in youngsters in food insecure families, meaning they struggled to afford regular and healthy meals.

Just under a third of UK children (28%) experienced material deprivation, a measure designed to assess whether households are able to afford basics that constitute a minimum acceptable standard of living, such as food, clothes, toys and school trips.

Separate analysis by a leading thinktank has found living standards for lower-income households are on track to fall further by the end of the decade as a result of the chancellor's spring statement.

A combination of weak economic growth over the next five years and benefit cuts that fell disproportionately on lower-income households would result in an average annual loss of £500 in 2030 for those in the poorest half of the population, according to The Resolution Foundation.