INCREASES in life expectancy have gone into reverse after a decade of Tory rule — and the poorest parts of the north of England are worst hit.

Poor people in the north can expect to die as many as 27 years younger than wealthy people in the south, a new scientific report has revealed.

The research was carried out by Imperial College London, and found that communities with the lowest life expectancy — below 70 for men and 75 years for women — were typically situated in urban areas of northern cities, including Leeds, Newcastle, Manchester, Liverpool and Blackpool.

Communities with the highest life expectancies were based in London and the Home Counties.

Government figures show that life expectancy for men in Britain fell for the first time in 40 years due to the pandemic, however the new research shows that life expectancy was declining in many communities years earlier.

The study’s senior author, Professor Majid Ezzati, from Imperial’s school of public health, said: “For such declines to be seen in ‘normal times’ before the pandemic is alarming, and signals ongoing policy failures to tackle poverty and provide adequate social support and healthcare.”

TUC Yorkshire and Humber region secretary Bill Adams said: “This has been a health crisis coming down the road for a long time.

“Over 10 years of Tory austerity has decimated local social services and the NHS, which has affected towns and cities in the north much more than elsewhere in the country.

“For the government to level up it must invest in communities that have been abandoned for many years.”