{"id":24104,"date":"2008-08-04T06:01:00","date_gmt":"2008-08-03T23:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/polly-toynbee-and-david-walker-an-extract-from-their-new-book-on-the-widening-gap-between-rich-and-poor\/"},"modified":"2016-08-27T01:52:12","modified_gmt":"2016-08-26T18:52:12","slug":"polly-toynbee-and-david-walker-an-extract-from-their-new-book-on-the-widening-gap-between-rich-and-poor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/polly-toynbee-and-david-walker-an-extract-from-their-new-book-on-the-widening-gap-between-rich-and-poor\/","title":{"rendered":"Polly Toynbee and David Walker: an extract from their new book on the widening gap between rich and poor"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nThe gap between rich and poor is wider than ever. But that doesn’t seem to bother Britain’s wealthiest earners. In an extract from their new book, Polly Toynbee and David Walker describe the jaw-dropping arrogance they encountered when they asked some of the fat cats to justify their lives of luxuryFrom the marbled 20th floor of a glass tower in Canary Wharf the view of the river is breathtaking. It snakes down to the Thames barrier, glinting in the sunset. Close to the new city lie the serried ranks of East End estate blocks. The view is typical of London: glossy new wealth nestling close to old and persisting penury. Precious little money has trickled down from this gilded new town in the sky to its neighbours below. The view is a reminder of the widening gap. History, many like to believe, is a Whiggish tale of wealth, social progress and fairer distribution, an onward march: we all wear the same clothes, meet on equal terms on Facebook. Yet background predicts who will run the banks and who will clean their floors. It’s not happenstance; it is largely pre-programmed. General mobility is a myth. The top 10% of income earners get 27.3% of the cake, while the bottom 10% get just 2.6%. Twenty years ago the average chief executive of a FTSE 100 company earned 17 times the average employee’s pay; now it is more than 75 times. Since Labour came to power in 1997 the proportion of personal wealth held by the top 10% has swelled from 47% to 54%. Labour did try to tug in the opposite direction, but after Gordon Brown’s last budget as chancellor axed the 10p tax rate, many of the lowest paid were left bearing a heavier burden. Continue reading…
\n
\nSource : theguardian.com
\nRead more…Polly Toynbee and David Walker: an extract from their new book on the widening gap between rich and poor<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The gap between rich and poor is wider than ever. But that doesn’t seem to...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-property-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p75ss1-6gM","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":62699,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/we-could-end-the-buy-to-leave-scandal-if-the-political-will-were-there-polly-toynbee\/","url_meta":{"origin":24104,"position":0},"title":"We could end the buy-to-leave scandal \u2013 if the political will were there | Polly Toynbee","date":"August 3, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\r Property bought as an investment and deliberately left empty is exacerbating the UK\u2019s housing crisis. But government is not powerless\u2022 Polly Toynbee is a Guardian columnistEmpty property bought by investors to sit unused is a scandal the Guardian has exposed this week, finding 1,652 in the Grenfell borough of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10898,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/those-who-cant-afford-a-home-are-being-abandoned-polly-toynbee\/","url_meta":{"origin":24104,"position":1},"title":"Those who can\u2019t afford a home are being abandoned | Polly Toynbee","date":"April 19, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"\r Cash from council sell-offs will go to high-earning first-time buyers. It\u2019s a huge blow to social housingIs this the worst thing this government has done? That\u2019s a tough choice for those low-earning households written off as unlikely to vote Tory. Governments come and go, attempting to reverse each other\u2019s\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10168,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/scrap-inheritance-tax-and-tackle-camerons-hypocrisy-head-on-polly-toynbee\/","url_meta":{"origin":24104,"position":2},"title":"Scrap inheritance tax and tackle Cameron\u2019s hypocrisy head-on | Polly Toynbee","date":"April 7, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"\r No wonder Cameron protected offshore trusts from the EU. Taxing earned and unearned income the same would break this link between privilege and powerYet another secret is out: while David Cameron promised tax transparency, he was privately preventing EU moves to force open secretive trusts, in which Britain uniquely\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":75081,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/homelessness-is-now-the-public-face-of-this-tory-era-polly-toynbee\/","url_meta":{"origin":24104,"position":3},"title":"Homelessness is now the public face of this Tory era | Polly Toynbee","date":"December 21, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\r Conservatives give another \u00a310bn to the help-to-buy scheme, benefiting their voters. Imagine what that money could do in the hands of charities the Guardian is supportingGenerous donations are flowing into the Guardian\u2019s appeal for three homeless charities, bursting past \u00a3750,000 less than a fortnight after its launch. But what\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":34366,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/only-a-decrepit-society-would-deprive-young-families-of-a-home-polly-toynbee\/","url_meta":{"origin":24104,"position":4},"title":"Only a decrepit society would deprive young families of a home | Polly Toynbee","date":"November 15, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"\r With the autumn statement, Theresa May can finally help the growing precariat. But I\u2019m not holding my breathIn a world turned upside down, we still know surprisingly little about our government. Ignorance is bliss, as Theresa May soars in the polls. With little to go on, people are free\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":142130,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/wales-has-been-brave-enough-to-completely-rethink-the-hated-council-tax-take-note-england-polly-toynbee\/","url_meta":{"origin":24104,"position":5},"title":"Wales has been brave enough to completely rethink the hated council tax. Take note, England | Polly Toynbee","date":"January 30, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"\r The Senedd\u2019s plan to shift the burden of this levy away from those on lower incomes shows how real levelling up can workIt is the very worst of taxes. (Probably \u2013 there\u2019s tough competition for that title.) 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