The Equality Trust welcomes signs of fresh thinking in government

Submitted by Bill Kerry on 9 November 2009

As reported in today's Guardian (see our News blog) some rather large pennies may finally be dropping in government circles. Gordon Brown even floated the idea of a Tobin tax on banks at the weekend. The point is not so much the cool response from other nations (predictably the US) as the fact that the idea was floated at all!

It is now becoming clearer every day that the huge gap between rich and poor in the UK undermines every government initiative to make our society better. Not only does the gap cause a wide range of social and environmental problem it was also instrumental in bringing about the economic crisis we are all enduring now.

The underlying massive disparity in income is what causes the reckless "me first" culture now so widespread in the UK. If everyone is forced to cling to a very steep social ladder it is no surprise that people will be more out for themselves - witness the MPs and their expenses. It creates the very climate which allows, even encourages, top pay and bonuses to soar away and which, in turn, further entrenches the inequality that blights our society.

The Equality Trust urges the UK government and all the major political parties to stop avoiding the "elephant in the room" and commit themselves, as a first step, to work to halve the UK's levels of inequality in order to promote the good society we all want. We also urge all our supporters to lobby their MP and take action in whatever way they can to make income inequality THE central issue in the forthcoming general election.