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Wednesday, 17 August 2016

Interesting article by Alan Millburn - my constituent + chair of the Social Mobility Commission on the new zeal at the heart of the May Government

"The commission I chair has been warning for years that without a dramatic change in approach to how we tackle issues of poverty and mobility, Britain would become a divided nation.
Thankfully the new Prime Minister has recognised the risk. It is very welcome that she has made it her mission to heal the social and economic fissures the vote laid bare.
Theresa May’s pursuit of higher social mobility is what our country needs – but it will hard to achieve.
So a broader social reform agenda is needed, one that focuses on people who are not in extreme poverty, are in work and do the right thing but are struggling to progress. They are the majority in Britain. Their interests should be at the heart of a new government-wide drive to open up opportunities.
This is a far bigger and broader approach than previous governments have considered. It cannot all be done from Whitehall. It will need Mrs May to forge a new national coalition with employers, universities, colleges, schools, councils and communities with one core purpose: a more level playing field of opportunity in Britain.
Delivering higher social mobility – reducing the extent to which someone’s class or income is dependent on the class or income of their parents – can prove that modern capitalist economies like ours can create better, fairer and more inclusive societies. It should be the holy grail of public policy, the priority for government and the cause which unites the nation in action."
The full article is here: well worth a read -
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/08/01/brexit-must-lead-us-to-build-a-fairer-britain/