Chris Johns

We've not pushed inequality back down to pre-Thatcherite levels, but it certainly hasn't changed for three decades or more in terms of the way that we measure these things.

And I know people are going to throw things at me now virtually, hopefully.

and say, well, of course it has.

The sting in the tail of inequality is that the one thing that has increased in the UK, Jim, is wealth inequality.

The rich have got richer, while the rest of us have stayed roughly where we are.

The top 10% have moved away from the bottom 90%.

I'll bet you can guess the main drivers of the top 10% moving away from the bottom 90%.

It's property prices.

started over the last few years owning a house the bigger the more expensive the better located the better you just got richer and richer and richer there have been and so it's a story the wealth inequality thing story in the uk is very much one about housing and you know you and i over the years have gone on about how housing is a global phenomenon the house price thing is worldwide and it's not just irish it's not just british i don't know if you notice the portuguese central bank report today i know you read these things assiduously guess what they majored on

Housing.

Portuguese house prices.

The country had the most rapid increase in the EU house prices in 2025.

It was Portugal.

They're warning of all the sorts of things that come with rising house prices.

And Brits.

There's a lot of Brits there as well.

Spain and Italy doing much better, absolutely.

Sorry to haul you back to the UK.

I'll shut up about it in a minute.

But the housing thing is responsible for the wealth inequality.