Figures by the Social Metric Foundation show a third (31%) of people in poverty – or 4.5 million people – are more than 50% below the poverty line, and this proportion has not changed since the millennium.

Just under half (49%) of those in poverty are also in ‘persistent’ poverty, meaning they are in poverty now and have been in poverty for at least two of the previous three years.

This totals 7 million people, including 2.3 million children, 1.2 million people living in lone-parent families, and 1.8 million of those living in workless households.

Upon hearing of the figures, Sarah Wallace, programme director of the Church Urban Fund’s Just Finance Foundation said: “I think it was shocking but not surprising unfortunately, after years of austerity and squeeze on income and increases on house prices it’s not at all surprising for me to see that families are really struggling.”

She explained that this isn’t necessarily due to unemployment.

“There’s so many more people working in insecure jobs and one of the things that really struck me was the number in in-work poverty – so people that work, sometimes two family members working fulltime, and still aren’t able to make ends meet”.

She said there’s a mixture of low-income and insecure hours, high cost credit on borrowing when essential items go wrong, such as repairing a washing machine,

“Unfortunately, there seems to…

Dr Julius Awakame, who is a psychiatrist, was cleared by a disciplinary panel three years ago after encouraging a woman to have an exorcism but has now been fired by Mount Gould Hospital in Plymouth.

As of 25th July, he is now subject to conditions on his future career, including telling the General Medical Council of any new post he takes up, the location and all the contact details of his next job.

Dr Awakame must also be supervised in all of his posts by a clinical supervisor, tell any new employers of his conditions and inform the GMC if he moves to a non-NHS post.

He trained at the University of Ghana in the nineties and later worked in Essex, where he was also fired from the North Essex Partnership Foundation Trust.

In 2016, it was reported that he gave a patient the name of a Nigerian Christian television channel, Emmanuel TV, after she said she was a childhood victim of a satanic paedophile ring.

His behaviour was cleared as it was decided he was acting empathetically and appropriately to what he understood.

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Developer Bellway is seeking planning permission for up to 65 homes on land opposite Malling Abbey in West Malling, Kent.

The abbey, founded in around 1090, is home to a group of Benedictine nuns who have adopted a simple lifestyle with an emphasis on silent and isolated worship.

The community provides individuals with residential retreats and hosts heritage open days for schools.

Alongside its Grade I, II and II* listed buildings, the grounds are designated as an historic park and garden.

Opponents of Bellway’s plans fear the construction and occupation of new homes will disrupt the community’s peaceful existence.

Reverend David Green, vicar of St Mary’s Church in West Malling, said the order of around 10 to 15 nuns, whose ages are estimated to range from 35 to 95, required a quiet environment to worship in.

“Their whole way of life is built around isolated prayer and peace and quiet,” he said.

Bellway’s plans would see fields on the eastern edge of West Malling occupied by a new estate.

Reverend Green said the side of the abbey grounds nearest the development housed the nuns’ personal accommodation, cloisters, chapel and burial ground.

“They are there for a reason, it’s the quietest part of the grounds,” he said.

He added: “For the nuns, it’s a particular concern because their entire way of life is built around silence and quiet, and they are being asked to…