Welcome to the third issue of Among Equals the quarterly campaign update from The Equality Trust. Please support our campaign by printing a few copies to distribute.

A PDF version of this newsletter is available here to download and print

We believe in One Society

One Society is a new campaign, set up in association with The Equality Trust to highlight the negative effects of income inequality in the run-up to the General Election and to promote policies which would tackle the problem, especially at the top end.

Please join us in welcoming Malcolm Clark as One Society campaign director. Here Malcolm explains the vision behind the campaign:

We believe in One Society. We believe that a large divide, in wealth and power, between those at the very top and the rest of society is damaging to national well-being. More equal societies work better for everyone; not just those at the bottom but right the way up: we all benefit. The general election presents an opportunity to unite society and to start the process of creating a more equal, fairer society.

In February, together with Demos, One Society will launch a series of pamphlets setting out the party-specific policy solutions which will form the basis for campaigning.

One Society will be at the Progressive London Conference in London on 30th January - if you're there, we hope you will come and find our stall.

Find out more about One Society

The Equality Bill: Reducing income inequality?

There is just one small clause relating to income equality (or socio-economic equality as they refer to it) in the Equality Bill, but it is a clause with great symbolic significance.

As the Bill passed to the House of Lords we contacted all peers to explain the importance of public bodies having "regard to the desirability of reducing socio-economic inequalities" as the preamble to the Bill states.

Making income equality a central focus of government policy is essential if we are to reduce the pay gap, give everyone the best chance to fulfil their potential and build a better life for us all. The Equality Bill doesn't go that far, but it is an important step along the way.

During their committee debate in January, several members of the House of Lords either referred to or quoted directly from The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better in speeches supporting the socio-economic duty.

We are glad to have made useful contact with peers from across the political spectrum, which we will now build on through the One Society campaign. The Trust would particularly like to thank Sara Hall and Titus Alexander for their invaluable advice and contributions.

Keep up with the latest news

To receive the most frequent updates about the campaign, please subscribe to our Blog

To meet other supporters in your area and get involved in local campaigning, contact our Local Network Co-ordinator Terence Bermingham

Find us on facebook and if you use Twitter, follow @equalitytrust @one_society and @profkepickett

The Spirit Level wows America

Following the immense interest and critical acclaim that accompanied The Spirit Level's UK launch in February 2009, we wondered if this achievement could be repeated in the USA when Bloomsbury published their edition in December?

Happily, it seems the answer to that question is yes! During their three week US book tour, Kate Pickett and Richard Wilkinson gave 35 talks, including 10 radio appearances and a 30 minute interview on Bill Moyer's popular TV show.

Kate commented:

We didn't know how our work would be received in the US, so we were delighted to take part in a great many valuable discussions and encounter real enthusiasm and appetite for change.

Back in the UK, The Spirit Level was named a Financial Times book of the year and a New Statesman book of the decade. The revised UK paperback is due out on 4th February.

Ask your parliamentary candidates to support equality

As the General Election approaches, your local candidates will be keen to win your votes.

Why not ask them to show you that they are committed to reducing the gap between rich and poor by signing our Equality Pledge:

Compelling new evidence presented by The Equality Trust shows that more equal societies - those with a narrower gap between rich and poor - are more cohesive, healthier, suffer fewer social problems and are more environmentally sustainable.

In view of these findings I am committed to making the UK a more equal society as the best way of building a better society. I will therefore actively support the case for policies designed to narrow the gap between rich and poor; and engage with the debate on which measures should be implemented to achieve that aim.

Please write to your local candidates using the template on our website and ask them to sign the Equality Pledge.

Local action for greater equality

We're delighted to report that our local groups continue to develop and increase.

The Sheffield group has launched its own website and Kate Pickett will speak at their meeting in April. The London group already has a full campaign plan for the upcoming General Election and is now working on key messages. Further north, Scotland's website is coming soon and first steps have been taken to establish a local group in the North-East of England. We'd also like to thank the Sheffield and London groups for inspiring the Equality Pledge.

To get involved in local campaigning, please contact Terence or if you're too short of time to join a group but would still like to help, please consider joining us as a Supporter. Regular donations make an enormous difference by allowing us to plan with more certainty.