By 1979, there had been steady progress ever since 1918 in
making Britain a more equal society. No doubt, this was connected with the fact
that in 1918 all men and most women were allowed to vote and in 1928 finally
all adults were. In 1979, with the election of Mrs Thatcher the process went
into immediate and dramatic reverse as shown by the chart below which relates
to the income of the top 1%.
In 1979, for example, the then boss of Barclays Bank earned
£87,000, which was 16 times more than the average wage. Last year the boss of
Barclays Bank, then Bob Diamond, received a total pay package of £17.7 million.
This was 830 times the average worker’s wage. Since 1979 something similar has
happened to the pay of the bosses of all large UK companies.
These bosses are not entrepreneurs who have taken large risks
to build up businesses. They are hired managers who sometimes need to become
involved in public relations. Their salaries are no more justified now than
they would have been in 1979.
Margaret Thatcher once said her greatest acheivement was “Tony
Blair”. It is Blair who cemented her legacy so that Thatcherism is still
central to British politics.
The 1% have reason to be grateful to Thatcher and Blair, not
only for their riches but also for making them feel good about themselves. Thatcherism
– in an inversion of most moral teaching - holds that to be rich is, in and of itself,
virtuous and deserving of respect.
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