School is out, and the sun is shining - but for millions around the country, the prospect of a holiday this summer is laughable.

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The cost of essentials has been eating further and further into household budgets for years, leaving little or no money for anything else. This cost of living crisis is sucking the joy out of life for millions of families, with small treats and presents – let alone holidays and foreign travel – a distant dream.

Despite comments to the contrary across the media this week, those at the sharpest end of the crisis really do have no money at all to spare. Almost half of Brits have less than £25 a week left after the essentials, and two thirds have been cutting back on life’s necessities such as heating or food, according to polling by the Cost of Living Action coalition. The reality across the country is that the bare minimum is a struggle. In this........

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