‘Divide between rich and poor must close’

CLOSING the aspiration gap between rich and poor will take 80 years unless more is done to solve the problem of an “us and them” society, a government commission chairman has warned.

Alan Milburn, who heads the Social Mobility Commission, said “whole tracts of Britain feel left behind” and divisions will “widen, not narrow” unless ministers set long-term targets for tackling inequality.

A report from the commission analysing government efforts to bridge the gap between rich and poor under Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Theresa May, found failings at every stage of a person’s life.

When Mrs May became Prime Minister in 2016, she pledged to help everybody “go as far as your talents will take you”, but the report shows the scale of the challenge she faces.

Statistics reveal that almost one in three Britons has spent time in poverty in recent years. The commission highlighted particular failings in the education system and estimated that at the current rate of progress, it would take 80 years before the participation gap between university students from rich and poor backgrounds closes.

It also estimated it will take 15 years before all children are school-ready by the age of five and 40 years before the attainment gap between rich and poor at that age is closed.

Mr Milburn, a former Labour health secretary, said the “public mood is sour, sometimes angry” because many people feel as if they cannot get on and improve their lives.

He said: “Whole tracts of Britain feel left behind. Whole communities feel the benefits of globalisation have passed them by. Whole sections of society feel they are not getting a fair chance. The sense that we have become an us-and-them society is deeply corrosive of our cohesion as a nation.”

The commission has urged Mrs May to introduce a single cross-party plan to boost social mobility, with 10-year progress targets to stop short-term interventions.

New data released by the Office for National Statistics showed that between 2012 and 2015, 30.2 per cent of the population fell into poverty at some point over the four-year period.