Itake an early morning train from Norwich to Liverpool, a five-hour trip through an interesting set of historical cities, towns and landscapes. In the last few weeks, I have made this journey twice: once to speak at a fringe meeting at the Labour Party Conference, and then to speak at a conference about the work of Michael Marmot that got a good spread in a recent Big Issue . During both visits I attempted to explain the need to have joined-up thinking around bigissue.com/social-justice and social opportunity.

The train passes through Thetford, a small town surrounded by a man-made forest created after the First World War to address the stripping of wooded England in the war effort. It is the birthplace of Thomas Paine, who was a campaigner for democracy and a key figure in the Americ

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