Ministers back PM over inequality

CABINET ministers have defended Theresa May in a row over social mobility after every commissioner on the Prime Minister’s task force walked out.

Alan Milburn, the former head of the Social Mobility Commission, said he had “little hope” that Mrs May would deliver on her promise to make Britain fairer, amid claims a Cabinet minister fought for him to stay.

Justine Greening, the Education Secretary, reportedly asked the Prime Minister to offer Mr Milburn an extended contract to continue with his work, but Mrs May refused.

The issue is particularly close to Mrs May because her first promise to the country on taking office was to tackle the root causes of injustice in the UK.

Mr Milburn and others linked to the commission believe failure has resulted in communities feeling left behind, sparking support for the Brexit vote.

Yesterday Ms Greening defended the Prime Minister, refusing to comment on the claims, instead telling the BBC’S Andrew Marr that Mr Milburn’s “term had come to an end”.

It came after Mr Milburn and his fellow commissioners walked out on the task force, the former Labour health secretary accusing Mrs May of failing to tackle the “burning injustices” that hold people back, risking rising political extremism across the UK. In his resignation letter, Mr Milburn said the preoccupation with Brexit meant the Government “does not have the necessary bandwidth to ensure the rhetoric of healing social division is matched with the reality”.

He added: “I have little hope of the current Government making the progress I believe is necessary to bring about a fairer Britain. It seems unable to commit to the future of the commission as an independent body or to give due priority to the social mobility challenge facing our nation.”

Appearing on BBC’S The Andrew Marr Show, Mr Milburn said his reappointment for a second term was backed by Justine Greening, the Education Secretary, but she had failed to prevail in Whitehall. “I have decided I am not going to reapply for the job and frankly neither are the other three commissioners.” He added: “There is only so long you can go on pushing water uphill.

“What is lacking here is meaningful political action to translate very good words into deeds. In the end what counts in politics is not what you talk about, it is what you do. What is needed is clear leadership to translate perfectly good words into actions that will make a difference.”

Ms Greening refused to be drawn on whether she had fought for Mr Milburn’s reappointment. “He has done a fantastic job but his term had come to an end. It was about getting some fresh blood into the commission,” she said.

Ms Greening denied that the Government lacked the will to tackle ine- quality, but admitted that more did need to be done. “What we are doing is a transformational series of policies across government to drive equality of opportunity,” she said.

She added: “I think there is a real problem that we need to fix. Britain is not a country where we have equality of opportunity. Where you grow up affects your future far too much. This is a generational challenge.”

A Downing Street spokesman said the departures came after Mr Milburn – whose term as commission chairman expired last July – was told that a new chairman was to be appointed and that an open application process would be held for the role.

Theresa May heads to Brussels today for a meeting with Jean Claudejuncker that promises to be crucial for the prospects of a harmonious and mutually beneficial Brexit agreement. Whether the unfolding deal will be politically acceptable at home remains to be seen. Over the next few days, the UK government needs to convince the EU negotiators that “sufficient progress” has been made on the three issues deemed by Brussels to require prior consideration before moving on to discuss the wider post-brexit relationship, including trade.

So far, this has essentially involved the Government agreeing to the EU’S terms. Even though theoretically nothing is agreed until everything is agreed, their financial demands have been largely accepted. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) is set to retain a role overseeing the rights of EU citizens after Brexit; and Britain is being forced to contemplate treating Northern Ireland differently from the rest of the UK, with uncertain implications for peace in the province.

At her lunch today with the EU Commission president, the Prime Minister will be looking for some indication that the Brussels summit later this month will give the go-ahead to the next stage of the Brexit process. When Mrs May outlined Britain’s position in Florence in September and put some money on the table, she was rebuffed just days later by her fellow heads of government.

After almost doubling the financial offer and making concessions in other areas, another repudiation would be politically damaging and raise questions as to whether the process is worth continuing if a succession of UK compromises is greeted with obduracy on the other side.

Yet difficulties remain, even to get past this stage – notably over the status of the regulatory framework in Northern Ireland. In addition, Brexiteers are alarmed at the possibility of a residual role for the ECJ in the legal system of the UK, which would negate one of the key reasons many voted to leave.

How will it fulfill the pledge to “take back control” if rulings of the ECJ are still binding in UK courts? Mrs May is walking a fine line between her understandable anxiety to move on from the current stalemate and the risk of doing so at a price that few – Leavers and Remainers alike, for different reasons – are prepared to pay.