Hi ,

Now is the time to tackle inequality.

The new government at Westminster faces too many crises rooted in inequality to avoid it forever, and we're encouraged by some of the rhetoric coming out of the new Prime Minister and Chancellor since the election: the foundations do need work, devolution is deeply needed, and wealth does need to be created in every community. These words recognise what has been clear for a long time: people in the UK desperately want to see action on inequality, more redistribution, and more investment in people.

But we want to see this government embrace action on inequality, as we noted in our response to Keir's first speech. In a lot of areas, the new government's plans remain unclear and subject to an immense amount of pressure and lobbying. Two of Labour's manifesto promises that sounded closest to policies we've called for – a publicly owned GB Energy and the creation of a National Wealth Fund – use the rhetoric of building community wealth and a democratic economy, but in practice could become channels for private investment and more profiteering at the expense of the rest of us, as laid out in LSE's interesting analysis of what's actually on offer.

That's why we're focusing on defining exactly what needs to happen to reduce inequality in our new update to the Spirit Level and through our coming co-production sessions. We want communities to say what we need for an equal society – not lobbyists fighting for a share of the wealth fund.

What do you think our response should be far right politics? You said:

• "More political engagement; more cohesive leadership from the left to combat inequalities. A fairer economy that benefits the many not the few."
  
  
• "1. Call them out wherever and whenever possible.
  2. Highlight positive stories about immigrants, asylum seekers, marginalised communities.
  3. And this might seem a bit specific but point out the benefits of our multi-racial society in terms of football. The improvements in this country in race relations over decades owes a lot to football - at all levels, from grassroots to the professional game - which is where working class young men (potential fodder for the far right) and increasingly girls and women of different ethnicities meet and get to know each other and socialise. Ask how good would an all-white England football team be? No Bellingham, no Saka, no Guehi and so on. Look to the example of the French footballers who are urging people to vote against RN."
  
  
• "We need to appeal to emotions too. But hope based on humanity. People respond to emotional messages rather than facts, however indisputable."
  
  
• "Call them out by regularly and promptly fact checking their erroneous statements and claims."
  
  
• "Focus on areas of working class deprivation with clear, simple messaging in public spaces about taxing the richest one percent. Clear diagrams about how much wealth this small percentage owns compared to the majority of the population. Graphs about how much this has increased in recent years."

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