1: Introduction: Inequality and Breaking with the Norm

Recent years, especially after Brexit, have seen a resurgence in the debate around what constitutes Britain and British identity as those on the right have sought to establish new dividing lines in order to justify what they do. Language, culture, and history are all seen as part of what makes Britain as a country different from others. However, there is something else: what was always a characteristic of Britain since the 19th century (Szreter, 2021) has now come to define the country again and that is inequality. The facts regarding inequality in the UK are depressingly familiar. In the UK, after 2021, the bottom 50% of the population owned less than 5% of wealth, the top 10% owned 57%, and the top 1% owned 23% (Chancel et al., 2022). Even under the last Labour government, income inequality did not decline. As a result, the UK is one of the most unequal countries in the OECD and Europe, and the second most unequal in the G7 (Francis-Devine, 2024). Inequality is costing the UK £106.2bn more a year compared with the average developed country in the OECD (The Equality Trust, 2023).