TONY BLAIR’S plan to reduce inequality was dealt a blow yesterday as research showed that the income gap between rich and poor has widened significantly under Labour.

Data from the Office for National Statistics showed that the incomes of the best and worst off had risen by about a fifth between 1995 and 2003. However, that translated into a weekly rise of £119 for the richest 10 per cent, and only £28 for the poorest.

Sir Malcolm Rifkind, the Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, said the figures suggested that the Government’s approach to tackling poverty had only partially succeeded.

Sir Malcolm said: “There is mounting evidence that voluntary enterprises and charities are much better at helping unemployed people into lasting jobs, at less cost to the taxpayer, than existing government programmes. Labour’s agenda on poverty has been, at best, only partially successful. Their commitment to eradicating poverty is undoubtedly genuine, but the reality is that their rhetoric has exceeded their achievements.”

The report, Focus on Social Inequalities, showed that slow progress has been made to increase the educational achievements of 16 year olds under Labour. In 2002, 77 per cent of children with parents in higher professional occupations gained five or more top grades at GCSE. This was more than double the 32 per cent achieved by children with parents in “routine occupations”.

While that gap has narrowed to 45 percentage points from 49 in 1998, it is still greater than the 44-point gap achieved by the Conservative Government in 1992. The ONS said: “People in the United Kingdom are better off than in the past across a range of measures but the benefits are not spread equally. Household income and educational attainment have improved overall but the gaps remain large.”

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