Cases of scurvy and hospital admissions for malnutrition have risen dramatically in the ten years the Conservatives have been in power, NHS digital statistics show.
On the back of austerity politics, the number of people suffering from Victorian illnesses in the UK has rocketed, The Mirror has reported.
In 2010-11, 61,000 people needed food handouts but a decade on this figure now stands at 2.5 million.
Hospitals reported cases of scurvy – a vitamin C deficiency that can cause fatigue, bruised skin, swelling of the limbs and tooth loss – have risen from 82 in 2010-11 to 171 in 2020-21.
There was also a heartbreaking 10,109 cases of malnutrition – which was widespread among the poor in the 19th century – in 2020-21, up from 4,657 in 2010-11.
Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth said the huge rise in cases was ‘a shameful indictment on a decade of the Tories’
He added: “Poverty is driving greater illness and illness also often traps people in poverty.
“The Government’s promises to ‘level up’ are exposed as utterly hollow. While deprivation worsens, the Tories refuse to tackle hunger in society.”
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