This country has always seen a disparity between socio-economic groups. Under Thatcher, the problem got worse with the creation of the under-class, and with the onset of New Labour and its arguable continuation under David Cameron, the gap between the countries richest and poorest is getting bigger.
A mere 1.5% of the country earn over £100,000 a year, showing that the majority of the wealth in the UK is concentrated with a select few. The pay of boardroom executives has been a prevalent topic of conversation ever since the start of the recession. It’s an issue that has only been prodded and poked and yet not fully dealt with.
The millions that are reportedly taken home by the country’s financial elite is sometimes ridiculous. The fact that some of these individuals are key players in the economic problems in this country proves it hypocritical that they are still reaping financial benefits. Whilst they are gallivanting around the south of France in their yachts, a far larger number of Brits are struggling to find a job and pay their bills. This image alone suggests that the government need to do all they can to end the bonus culture that has dominated this country so much in the past twenty-or-so years.
The words of Nick Clegg can’t just be rhetoric, as politics seems to be these days; it needs to be cemented on paper. There may be a backlash from the businesses that form a key part of the political machine in this country but it is a side effect that should be taken with a pinch of salt.
If we are to achieve more financial equality and shrink the wealth gap then major steps need to be taken. Especially now, a lot of the bigger companies have gone into public ownership, which means that the boardroom salaries, or at least some of them, are coming out of the pockets of the tax-paying citizens.
At the end of the day, the fat cats need to be made thinner and this will only happen if some of their golden parachutes are shrunk.
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