A bonus edition of Fair Comment today to mark the launch of our new report, Rigged, which you can read online and as a PDF. The executive summary is below. Next week we’ll be publishing midweek because we’ll be at Labour Conference until Tuesday.
NEW REPORT
Rigged: How the unfairness of Britain’s broken social contract drives support for populism
The fraying social contract in Britain has been stretched to breaking point by persistent and widening wealth inequality. The stark gap between the wealthy and those struggling to get by has eroded the basic promise that effort and contribution are fairly rewarded with a decent standard of living and economic security, leaving millions of people feeling abandoned by mainstream politics. Recent research highlights just how deep and wide this anger at the status quo has spread across the UK.
High levels of wealth inequality feed the not unfounded perception that the economy is rigged against the interests of ordinary citizens. This in turn undermines community cohesion, diminishes trust in institutions, and drives resentment, pessimism and zero-sum thinking.
Politicians of all parties should respond to plummeting trust in mainstream politics by taking bold steps to share wealth more fairly across society, repair the social contract and restore faith in democracy, while boosting economic growth and improving living standards for all. This demands urgent action across a range of policy measures, including taxing wealth more fairly and effectively, sharing wealth more widely in the first place, and investing in stronger public services.
Please help us by sharing the report on LinkedIn, Bluesky, Twitter/X, Facebook or Instagram. Thank you!
UPCOMING EVENT
Cursed by inequality: The history and future of societal collapse
Lecture Theatre 4.04, Bush House, Central London (and livestreamed online)
18.15 to 19.30, Monday 20 October 2025
Dr Luke Kemp’s new book, Goliath’s Curse: The History and Future of Societal Collapse, looks at what brought down the empires of Egypt, Rome, China and other Goliaths, and finds that they were hollowed out by increasing inequality and concentrations of power before an external shock dealt the final blow.
What lessons can we learn from this radical retelling of history for our current, fragile political moment, in the UK and beyond? Join us for a thought-provoking (and hopefully not entirely pessimistic) conversation about the risks posed by inequality in Britain today to our society, democracy, economy and environment and what we can do about them to avert disaster. Luke will be joined by Dr Danny Sriskandarajah, CEO of the New Economics Foundation, in a conversation hosted by Dr Jeni Mitchell, director of the KCL Future Threats Lab, and Will Snell, CEO of the Fairness Foundation.