Class divide widens under Labour

By Contributing editor Emily Hohler Jan 29, 2010

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The gulf between the richest and the poorest in Britain is at its widest since World War II, according to a report commissioned by Harriet Harman, minister for women and equality. The National Equality Panel found that the top 10% of the population are more than 100 times richer than the poorest 10% (whose household wealth is £8,000 or below). It concludes that Britain remains driven by class 'from cradle to grave', despite billions of pounds spent trying to narrow the gap.

The government seems to think that this will "play to Labour's electoral advantage by allowing it to push through yet more legislation", says The Times. In fact, voters are more likely to wonder why Labour has not made a better fist of addressing the issue during its 13 years in office. The truth is that "such serious social change takes much longer than a Parliament or three" and these promises of classlessness are beginning to "grate". John Major talked of a "genuinely classless society" in 1990; Blair was still promising meritocracy in 1999. David Cameron would be wise to adopt a more "understated" approach.

Unfortunately, he's finding it hard to resist, says Mary Riddell in The Daily Telegraph. Last week he tried to turn the Edlington brothers case to political advantage, "citing a social recession and demanding that 'pretty deep questions' be asked about troubled areas. Alas, Mr Cameron had no answers, 'pretty deep' or otherwise, on the geography of human blight". But class isn't the critical issue in any case, says Harry Phibbs in the Daily Mail. "Growing inequality would not matter if we were all getting much richer." Unfortunately, that's not happening. "What this report shows is something far more damning.

On several measures the poor under Labour have not merely made slower progress than the rich. They have made no progress at all. Defeating poverty is the key objective, rather than defeating inequality. Labour has failed to defeat either."

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Published in Economics | More articles by Emily Hohler

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