Read and comment on Sunder Katwala's article on the Guardian's Comment is Free.

When is inequality unfair?

Watch an interview and discussion about the effects of inequality which was broadcast yesterday on TV3 in Ireland.

The recent speculative boom and financial crash have forced a rethink about the way we live now. As the bankers line up in front of the Treasury Select Committee, we can ponder our own behaviour. Did we really need that new car we put on the mortgage? What have we got to show for our "prudent" investments? What are our city breaks doing to the environment?

"Inequality at levels not seen under Macmillan, Heath, Thatcher or Major. Real cuts in the incomes for those at the bottom of the pile. No progress in reducing child or pensioner poverty. A record number of working-age adults without children living below the breadline.

"Britain under Gordon Brown is a more unequal country than at any time since modern records began in the early 1960s, after the incomes of the poor fell and those of the rich rose in the three years after the 2005 general election."

"It's more than a week since Alistair Darling's budget, but the howls of protest haven't stopped for a day ever since.

Polly Toynbee writing about the new Equality Bill today's Guardian.

"Harriet Harman's bill is a frank recognition of the role of class in Britain. A decade earlier, it might have had a real impact..."

In the smoking rubble of market fundamentalism, we are all being forced to rethink the principles that order our societies – and one small, shining idea is rising again from the wreckage. It is the idea of human equality.

Coverage from Nigeria:

The Punch: First, all animals must be near equal

Read Yasmin Alibhai-Brown's article in today's Independent

The Westminster Hour, Sunday 15th March, BBC Radio 4

Carolyn Quinn talks to Philip Blond, who is leading the Progressive Conservatism Project at Demos, about how the Conservatives need to find a new way of reducing inequality.

The Spirit Level, a hard-hitting study of the social effects of inequality, has profound implications, says Lynsey Hanley.

Read and comment on the Guardian's editorial about The Spirit Level.