Worse than under Thatcher
July 15th, 2003From The Guardian.
Inequality in Britain is escalating towards American dimensions. The government can and should take action now
Two stories of Britain 2003. Mrs Taylor (not her real name) is 36 and the mother of two teenage sons. She suffers from systemic lupus with lung intolerance, Renaud’s syndrome, progressive fibrosis of both lungs and polymyositis (muscle-wasting). She is mostly bedridden. Her husband has had to give up work to care for her.
The Taylors have a weekly income of £228, made up of income support, child benefit, family premium and disability living allowance. Part of their roof is leaking, but they cannot get a renovation grant from the council because the roof is not bad enough for the “serious disrepair” category.
Jean-Pierre Garnier (his real name), chief executive of GlaxoSmithKline, recently received a pay package that the company said was worth about £11m. The small print, however, indicates that it is worth more like £16m.
