TORY austerity policies have killed more people than Covid, researchers have found.

Between 2012-19 there were almost 335,000 more deaths than expected across Britain compared with trends from 1981-2011, according to the shocking findings of a study by the Glasgow Centre for Population Health and the University of Glasgow. 

Academics linked the excess deaths to Tory cuts in public services and welfare, saying that, without support, “people have been dragged under by decreased income, poor housing, poor nutrition, poor health and social isolation – ultimately leading to premature death.”

The analysis adds to existing evidence of stagnating life expectancy nationwide and rising death rates in some of the poorest areas since 2010.

The report found that death rates among women in the 20 per cent most deprived areas of England had increased by about 3 per cent between 2010-12 and 2017-19, after a 14 per cent decline over the previous decade. A similar trend was found in Scotland. 

Co-author Ruth Dundas, professor of social epidemiology at the University of Glasgow, said: “This study shows that in the UK a great many more deaths are likely to have been caused by UK government economic policy than by the Covid-19 pandemic.”

Tory ministers are reportedly planning a new wave of welfare cuts, but the researchers urged them to learn from the “devastating effects” that austerity has had on the health of the population and reverse such policies. 

Describing the findings as “shocking,” Scottish Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said the report underlined the “true human cost of austerity” and reinforced the need for Tory ministers to backtrack on plans laid out in the mini-Budget. 

The study was published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health on Wednesday.