The Big Issue

A lot has changed in the decades since this picture was taken of Oxford Street in the 1930s but one thing has stayed the same: navigating ‘Britain’s high street’ at rush hour can feel like a form of punishment. Swarms of pedestrians compete for space on narrow pavements; cabs and double-decker buses dodge devil-may-care cyclists; music blares from 1,000 American Candy shops. London mayor Sadiq Khan admits that Oxford Street – once the “jewel in the crown of Britain’s retail sector” – has “suffered hugely” in recent years. This decline has prompted the mayor’s latest policy announcement: a £150 million plan to ban vehicles on a 0.7 mile (1.1 km) stretch of the famous shopping street. “[The plans] will help to restore this famous part of the capital to its former glory, while…

HEALTH Don’t ‘privatise the NHS by stealth’, Starmer told, after damning Darzi report tells tale of health service failing By Lottie EltonBig Issue reporter “Privatisation is not the answer,” Elizabeth Pfiester told Big Issue. American by birth, she has lived with type 1 diabetes since the age of four and was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2018. The NHS treatment she received saved her life and she is grateful that she didn’t have to deal with the medical system in her native United States. “I didn’t have to jump through a bunch of hoops like I did in the States,” she said. “In the US, if you don’t have insurance it’s terrifying.” Campaigners have warned that a health system similar to the one in the US could be on the way following a damning report identifying…

The ongoing prison crisis makes difficult reading. Thousands of prisoners have been released early because there simply isn’t any room and many will end up back inside. But the number of prisoners who can’t read is a part of the problem that flies under the radar. Shannon Trust, a charity that supports prisoners to help other inmates to read, said 67% of the prison population either can’t read at all or read at a level below age 11. It can lead to people reoffending when they leave prison, without the hopes of landing a job, being able to sort out bills or life’s other essentials, or even facing homelessness. It’s likely to be a problem that persists. With more than 2,000 prisoners released early to clear prison spaces in England and Wales, time…

This week I am opening my page up to an outburst of artfulness supplied by Brian Maguire, Sahaja Budzilla, Perry Wharrie, Paddy Maguire, Tam Carrigan, Louie Simpson, Danny Jones, Ax, Contra and Eddie Cahill. Ten artists who came by their art the hard way. An exhibition that breaks out of the usual mould. Banged up in my teenage years, a new reader, buckling down to not running away again from a Young Offenders’ Institute, I discovered art – 62 years ago I swapped having no future other than wrongdoing to a future full of being creative. What a blast of common sense that was, not just for me but the screws and the custodial system who recognised that a painting, drawing boy was better than some arsehole planning his next escape. The last…

Get in touch The Big Issue, 2nd floor, 43 Bath Street, Glasgow G2 1HW letters@bigissue.com @bigissue /bigissueUK @bigissueuk @thebigissue Generous John How wonderful is this – John, in Colchester High St, saved me a previous week’s edition of the Big Issue that came out in his holiday break. He insisted I take it free when he found out I hadn’t been able to find one. For 20+ years we’ve nurtured each other, what a wonderful relationship. Pat Rudkins, Colchester System of failures I just watched the Cardboard Citizens film about Terry. Brought up in care, was then homeless so he couldn’t do his homework, and excluded from school. What a system of failures. It costs £100,000 to house a prisoner – more for a juvenile – and £46,000 to pay fees for Eton. It’s a no brainer. Helen Smiley Furniture fury I was interested…

For 33 years the Big Issue Group has worked to create opportunities for people affected by poverty across the UK. We have been both safety net and a vital platform for those on the margins of society as they rebuild their lives. Over time, we have also grown to invest in other organisations committed to ending poverty. But it’s become increasingly clear that we need to do more. In Britain today one in five people are living in poverty and a staggering 3.8 million people live in extreme poverty and struggle to feed, clothe, and keep themselves warm. This number is rising – destitution has more than doubled in the last seven years. Poverty is out of control, and governments have failed to act swiftly enough. This is a crisis affecting our…