The extravagances of this junket were shameful.

The Telegraph today draws attention to the embarrassing fact that the Department for International Development, the government's Anti-poverty department spent more than £500,000 on a single conference

The article contains a breakdown of how the money was spent and should make uncomfortable reading for those involved. The money spent could have done much more good if it had been spent on directly helping people in poverty.

The cost of living is so much higher if you have very little.

Poor pay more to live on the breadline

Extract from the Guardian:

"While the rich are getting richer, Britain's poor are paying the price. A new report from Save the Children, Robbing Peter to Pay Paul, has concluded: "Just as wealth generates wealth, so poverty begets poverty." According to the charity: "There is no margin for error on very low incomes. You balance everything tightly but as soon as you're hit with an emergency, you're in trouble."

The report comes hard on the heels of a chilling warning from Marks & Spencer boss Sir Stuart Rose, who last week highlighted what he said was a widening gulf between rich and poor. "I have never seen such a polarised UK economy. The rich are so very, very rich. The West End can't get enough diamonds. But the poor are getting poorer."

With the credit crunch snapping at our heels, more people are expected to face severe difficulties this year."

Pensioners' quality of life is worsening.

Quality of life getting worse, say older people - Telegraph

Extract:

"More than a quarter of older people say that their quality of life has worsened in the past year, researchers report today.

A survey for the second annual report into pensioners' lives by the charity Help the Aged found that more than nine out of 10 of those questioned felt their lives had not improved - and 28 per cent felt they had worsened. The report also showed that more than a fifth of older people were now living in poverty, with 11 per cent in severe poverty.

While excess winter deaths had fallen by almost a fifth, the study warned that 1.25 million pensioner households across Britain were suffering from fuel poverty.

Worries about money led 20 per cent of older people to avoid heating their bedroom, living room or bathroom, the survey found.

Of those entitled to pension credit, 40 per cent were not receiving it and 47 per cent of pensioners failed to claim council tax benefit. One in three on the lowest incomes were spending more than 10 per cent of their income on council tax."

Lower your high blood pressure and reduce the risk of having a stroke or a heart attack by simply eating less salt and salty food. - Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better...(o:
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(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

Kofi Annan addresses MPs and peers about contemporary poverty in Africa and calls for G8 promises to be fulfilled.

Annan plea on Africa poverty - Guardian

Extract:

"In a rare address to MPs and peers the former UN secretary general Kofi Annan yesterday marked the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade in Britain by arguing that an attack on contemporary poverty in Africa was the best way to heal the wounds of slavery.

Mr Annan rejected calls for reparations, saying: "Many Africans believe history has not yet repaired past wounds at all. The movement for reparations is fuelled by the desire for recognition. This is a battle better fought in the development domain."

Speaking in the Lords Gallery, Mr Annan was introduced by John Prescott, the deputy prime minister, who has overseen much of the British commemoration. Mr Prescott expressed the government's "deep regret and sorrow" over the trade.

Mr Annan said: "A bold investment in addressing poverty in Africa, as promised by the G8 in Gleneagles, would be the best way to heal the wounds of the past and turn the page.""

Britain has been ranked bottom out of 21 countries in a United Nations assessment of children's well-being. Scathing report by the UN children's fund.

British youngsters get worst deal, says UN

Extract:

"Britain has been ranked bottom out of 21 countries in a United Nations assessment of children's well-being.

The nation's high number of single parents and step-families has contributed to the ranking.

The scathing report by the UN children's fund, Unicef, says youngsters are better off overall in every other industrialised country, including less wealthy nations such as Poland and the Czech Republic.

It says there is statistical evidence to link growing up in single-parent families and step-families with a greater risk of dropping out of school, leaving home early, poorer health, low skills, and low pay."

"According to today's report, the UK lags in other areas too such as the number of children living in relative poverty, vaccination rates, and the time spent talking, or eating with a parent or parents.
It also has high rates of obesity, drunkenness, bullying, early sexual intercourse, cannabis-taking and teenage pregnancy."

Well the responsibility for the high rates of obesity lies firmly with doctors, politicians, the food industry, drug companies, etc. See my political webpage - If people were told the truth about obesity - namely that it is caused/initiated by fluid retention and not by overeating - this would reduce obesity greatly and improve children's health in many ways and also improve their happiness because they would not be bullied and insulted so much.

Lose weight by eating less salt! - Go on! - Try it! - See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)