Deprivation divide in Leeds is cutting lives short | Letters

Alex Sobel draws attention to his constituency’s life expectancy gap and calls for a cross-government health inequalities strategy

Your report about the deprivation divide in UK communities brings into sharp focus the granularity of inequalities in the country (‘Posh-poor divide’: the rise in areas of England where wealth and deprivation appear side by side, 1 December). These aren’t just socioeconomic – they have a huge impact on our health, wellbeing and how long we live.

This harsh truth is nowhere clearer than in my constituency, Leeds Central and Headingley, which has the widest life expectancy gap in England based on data from Health Equals. Residents in the Hyde Park area are expected to live a shocking 14 years less than those in neighbouring Far Headingley and Weetwood. A half-hour walk takes you from one area to the other – equating to more than a decade of life lost.

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