Inequality in the UK

[John Simkin]

In a detailed analysis of wealth and income in the UK the Institute for Fiscal Studies has reported that inequality is virtually unchanged from when Tony Blair first arrived in Downing Street in May, 1997. In the 1980s under Thatcher and the Tories, the incomes of the richest 20% rose almost 10 times as quickly as those of the poorest 20%. Things stablised under John Major. This pattern has continued under Blair. As the report points out: "the reversal of the increase in inequality seen over the 1980s still seems an unlikely prospect any time soon."