Thread by @Max12to1

1/12 A BRIEF HISTORY OF UK #INEQUALITY: The UK used to be far more equal. Our current high level of income and wealth #inequality is a result of choices made (and not made) by successive governments (see section 11 in link > bit.ly/3ChKcBF for graph below). #Max12to1

2/12 Broken down into its constituent parts, high #inequality means having excessive incomes and wealth for a small minority while a much larger number of people live in or near #poverty. This is what the UK has tolerated for decades. #Max12to1 jrf.org.uk/data

3/12 It is important to grasp just how much #inequality in the UK surged in the 1980s as the policies of the Conservative governments took effect (financial deregulation, high unemployment, weakened trade unions, privatisation, and erosion of the welfare state). #Max12to1

4/12 It is also important to note how #inequality has remained stubbornly high from around 1990 onwards. Very high levels of #inequality now appear to be embedded. No political party has tried (or is even proposing) to reverse the 1980s hike in #inequality. #Max12to1

5/12 And if you zoom out and look at UK #inequality across the 20th century, the picture is that of a U-shaped curve – starting from the highs of the 1920s and falling towards the 1960s and 70s before rising back towards the levels of the 1920s. #Max12to1

6/12 Although, interestingly, the picture for the richest is more V-shaped. This indicates just how much top incomes need to be reduced (and the importance of doing so) if we are to reduce overall #inequality again. #Max12to1

7/12 It should also be noted that before the 1960s we could only measure #inequality using tax records. This, in effect, excluded the poorest as they paid no tax, and they were not surveyed by other means. #Max12to1

8/12 The fall in #inequality over the middle decades of the 20th century was largely due to the rise of trade unions and the Labour movement/party, as well as improvements in the welfare state in its broadest sense (the social wage). #Max12to1

9/12 More generally, there was a great fear of communism, then a viable alternative economic and political system. In this context, social democratic concessions to working people were likely viewed as necessary - the lesser of two evils - even by many conservatives. #Max12to1

10/12 But since the late 1970s the owners of capital (aided by sympathetic governments) have worked hard – and successfully – to reverse the gains made by working people in the middle decades of the century. And now ⬇️ we could be described as a plutocracy. #Max12to1

11/12 So, this is where we are now. There is no magic solution to reducing #inequality and creating a fair and decent society. It will again involve union strength and public and political will, as well as progressive ideas that will inspire hope and support. #Max12to1

12/12 The ideas already exist; Green New Deal, Wealth Tax, Universal Basic Income, and a Wellbeing (post-growth) economy to name four. These, together with renewed public and co-operative ownership, offer hope for a new egalitarian age. We just have to make it reality. #Max12to1