5 bits of bad news you might have missed as MPs go home for Christmas

Parliament has officially risen and MPs have headed back to their constituencies for the Christmas break.

They won't return to the House of Commons until Monday 7 January.

But the political year coming to an end doesn't mean the news stops.

And a cynic might even suggest some people might wish to take advantage of the season, when people are more likely to be interested in repeats of Die Hard than the news, to bury things that aren't entirely flattering.

It's called "take out the trash day" for a reason.

So here's a roundup of the things you might have missed as MPs head off on their lengthy Christmas 

Public health budgets to tackle causes of early death will be cut by 85 million next year, new figures show.Despite skyrocketing obesity and addiction levels in communities the Tories are forcing through more “devastating” cuts to local council budgets.

The Government quietly announced the 3.3% cut for 2019/20 after years of drastic cuts to money to prevent issues such as mental health problems.

The cut will hit addiction support, sexual health and stop smoking services.

Jon Ashworth MP, Labour’s Shadow Health and Social Care Secretary, said: “It’s outrageous the Government have tried to sneak out further devastating cuts without debate in Parliament.

“Only a few weeks ago the Secretary of State told us prevention was his priority and yet today he is cutting specialist public health services by a further £85 million.

“It’s the clearest evidence that ministerial promise on the NHS are entirely hollow.

“To do so after we learnt that over half of all deaths of homeless people last year were due to substance misuse issues is especially shameful.”