Boris Johnson told to take personal charge to reverse shocking fall in life expectancy for England’s poorest since Tory austerity

Author of landmark health inequalities review tells prime minister to act on ‘lost decade’ and widening north-south divide

Boris Johnson has been urged to take personal charge of stemming a shocking decline in life expectancy for the poorest women in England, blamed on a decade of government cuts.

The prime minister must chair a cross-governmental drive to tackle the crisis, said Sir Michael Marmot, after raising the alarm on a “lost decade” – following more than a century of progress.

Sir Michael’s review blames the widening health gap on rising poverty, the closure of Sure Start centres, education cuts, worsening housing and the boom in insecure zero-hours contracts.

“It’s highly likely that they are responsible for the worsening health picture,” warned the director of the Institute of Health Equity at University College London.

And he added: “We call for the prime minister to make reduction of health inequalities a national priority.”

The call comes with Mr Johnson about to be consumed by the negotiations on a post-Brexit trade deal.

Sir Michael’s study found that overall life expectancy has stalled for the first time in more than 100 years and uncovered a widening north-south health gap.

The biggest falls were found in the most deprived 10 per cent of neighbourhoods in the northeast – and the largest increases in the richest 10 per cent of areas in London.

Most alarmingly, the life expectancy of women in the most deprived areas fell by 0.3 years between 2010-12 to 2016-18, while those in the richest increased by around 0.5 years.

Sir Michael pointed out that, for a century prior to 2010, life expectancy had increased by one year every four years, before “almost grinding to a halt”.

“From the beginning of the 20th century, England experienced continuous improvements in life expectancy but, from 2011, these improvements slowed dramatically,” he said

“England has lost a decade,” Sir Michael warned, adding: “If health has stopped improving, that means society has stopped improving.”

Speaking on BBC Radio 4, he said there was little doubt about the causes “if child poverty has gone up, if Sure Start centres have closed, if education spending has gone down, if more children are below the poverty line, if housing has become more difficult”.

Matt Hancock, the health secretary, said the findings would “renew my determination to level up health life expectancy across our country”, but did not announce any policy measures.

“Levelling up health is the most important levelling up of all,” he said.

“There is still much more to do and our bold prevention agenda, record £33.9bn a year investment in the NHS, and world-leading plans to improve children’s health will help ensure every person can lead a long and healthy life.”

Prime minister Boris Johnson’s official spokesman said: “Every single person deserves to lead a long and healthy life, no matter who they are, where they live or their social circumstances.

“The prime minister has been very clear from his very first day in office that he is committed to levelling up the whole country.

“While life expectancy is increasing, we know that it isn’t for everyone, and so we must tackle the gaps that exist.”