The Yorkshire Post says: Loneliness is a social epidemic - MP calls for new welfare system

Its two main aims are for loneliness to be universally recognised as a health priority and to encourage more people to become volunteers for support services. Since its inception it has helped change perceptions and influence policy-makers.

It was an issue that Jo Cox took to her heart and championed so passionately before her senseless murder last year. This newspaper worked with Mrs Cox on a new cross-party commission to bring together experts in the field and investigate the scale of the loneliness crisis.

Leeds West MP Rachel Reeves has since picked up the baton and pressed on with the commission’s work and today she will tell London’s Policy Exchange that loneliness is no longer a personal misfortune that can befall individuals but has escalated into a “social epidemic”.

It is a stark warning but a necessary one. Ms Reeves says a fresh approach to health and social care is needed to tackle this issue and wants to see the introduction of a new kind of welfare system that brings people together and encourages them to help themselves.

Loneliness can, and does, afflict all strata of society irrespective of age, status, or background and as such it requires a radical, forward-thinking solution, and for that to happen we need politicians, healthcare bosses and leading charities to spearhead a co-ordinated plan of action.

It is approaching four years since we launched our campaign and while giant strides have been taken to make people more aware of this scourge of modern society, more work needs to be done, and Ms Reeves’s speech is a timely reminder of the scale of the challenge we face if we are to put an end to this harrowing social epidemic.