It's no secret that the UK's preventative services have been cut to the bone and that communities – and particularly the more deprived ones – have borne the brunt. New BBC research on libraries underlines this point, revealing that 180 have closed since 2016, with more deprived communities four times more likely to have experienced a closure.

The litany of destruction extends far beyond libraries. Think deep cuts to the local public health grant, closures of over a thousand youth clubs and the axing of one in three Sure Start centres. While these cuts may have delivered cash savings in the immediate term, their legacy can be found in an increasingly unwell population, rising rates of youth offending and a large, sustained gap in school readiness and health between poorer and better off places. All of these problems contribute to the UK's economic malaise and chasm of inequality of opportunity.