mutley
21-04-2010, 08:07 PM
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/apr/21/wealth-social-divide-health-inequality
London is most unequal city in the developed world, with the richest tenth of the population amassing 273 times the wealth owned by the bottom tenth – which creates a "means chasm" not seen since the days of a "slave owning society", according to a new book.
In Injustice: Why Social Inequality Persists published by Policy Press, Danny Dorling, a professor of human geography at Sheffield University and an expert on social disparity, paints a bleak picture of an extremely unjust Britain where differences in wealth have led to a profoundly divided society.
He says the government's latest figures show that in the capital the top 10% of society had on average a wealth of £933,563 compared to the meagre £3,420 of the poorest 10% – a wealth multiple of 273.
The effect on politics has been the dramatic "super concentrating" of the Conservative vote in a series of wealthy constituencies in areas such as the south- east. By 2005, one in six Tory voters would have to shift from some of the most Conservative seats to other party strongholds to spread the Tory vote equally across the country.
London is most unequal city in the developed world, with the richest tenth of the population amassing 273 times the wealth owned by the bottom tenth – which creates a "means chasm" not seen since the days of a "slave owning society", according to a new book.
In Injustice: Why Social Inequality Persists published by Policy Press, Danny Dorling, a professor of human geography at Sheffield University and an expert on social disparity, paints a bleak picture of an extremely unjust Britain where differences in wealth have led to a profoundly divided society.
He says the government's latest figures show that in the capital the top 10% of society had on average a wealth of £933,563 compared to the meagre £3,420 of the poorest 10% – a wealth multiple of 273.
The effect on politics has been the dramatic "super concentrating" of the Conservative vote in a series of wealthy constituencies in areas such as the south- east. By 2005, one in six Tory voters would have to shift from some of the most Conservative seats to other party strongholds to spread the Tory vote equally across the country.