lurch

Now, former clients tell the BBC they have been left thousands of pounds out of pocket and “in the lurch” by authorities, while Archie has declared himself bankrupt.

She said differences in childcare across the border were frustrating and she felt she had been left in the lurch.

The data suggested that, if anything, the Ministry of Health may have underestimated actual death tolls as hospital services and mortality reporting systems lurched toward a November collapse.

Dame Rachel de Souza's report into the issue said the system has failed to keep up with rising demand, leaving families "in the lurch" and expected to cope by themselves while they wait.

However in the period since the Second World War it has lurched from crisis to crisis and was under UK state control from 1977 to 1989.