Harman due to reopen class war debate
Harriet Harman, the Labour deputy leader and minister for women and equality
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Thursday, 21, Jan 2010 12:11
Harriet Harman, the Labour deputy leader and minister for women and equality, is today due to announce the introduction of an "inequality bible" as the class war debate is reopened.
Ms Harman will make the announcement in a speech ahead of the publication of a government-commissioned report that will put the inequality question at the fore of Labour's general election campaign.
The report, chaired by professor John Hills, will say more needs to be done to combat discrimination in the UK.
Ms Harman will say: "Persistent inequality of socioeconomic status - of class -overarches the discrimination or disadvantage that can come from your gender, race or disability.
"The question of equality is not just rooted in our traditional values and linked with our past, it's essential for the future. The public want an equal society, one where there is not a yawning and growing gap between the bottom and the top."
Last month Gordon Brown faced accusations of trying to ignite a class war by attacking the Conservative leadership over its privileged background.
During prime minister's questions he said Tory policy had been "dreamed up on the playing fields of Eton", a comment dubbed by David Cameron as "petty" and one the PM eventually backtracked on.
Olympics minister followed the remark up by saying the general election campaign should be about "engaging the British people in a conversation, not a hideous to and fro of personality attack".