RECENT correspondents (Letters November 16 and 23) have referred to the dire level of poverty in the UK.

It is so dire that the UN highlighted our Government’s dismal failure to ameliorate it. 3.8 million in the UK have no access to adequate accommodation or other basic long-term needs. Yet the Government shows little shame at its appalling record.

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In Herefordshire, in 2022, there were 4,300 children living in poverty across the county.

Although the figure of 14 per cent is lower than the average for the UK it should be of deep concern to us all. Their poverty will have life-long effects. As adults, they are very likely to have poor health, low educational attainments, the inability to get well-paid jobs and a secure home. Rural poverty is often hidden but is exacerbated by isolation, lack of affordable transport, and access to support services.

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The Government’s recent budget might result in some marginal improvements but it has set the prospect for a major bout of austerity by savagely reducing the funds available for public services.

It was a budget designed by the rich, and for the rich, who appear to be blind, deaf and unashamedly ignoring the plight of its most vulnerable citizens.

ROS BRADBURY

Kington