[Mr. Eric Illsley in the Chair] — Social Mobility

Part of the debate – in Westminster Hall at 10:16 am on 26 June 2007.

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Photo of Danny Alexander Danny Alexander Shadow Secretary of State (Cabinet Office) and Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 10:16, 26 June 2007

Indeed. We shall see.

The point that the right hon. Gentleman makes is an interesting one. If we are to achieve the progressive consensus, for which he expressed a wish at the beginning, it must be built around a shared understanding of the facts. I do not believe that anyone on either side of the House would deny the importance of social mobility, nor would they deny that equality of opportunity is a critically important aspiration across the whole of the political spectrum. I look forward to hearing the remarks of Greg Clark on that point.

Social mobility is especially important to Liberal principles of freedom and fairness, because a lack of it implies a lack of opportunity—an inequality of opportunity—and a fair and liberal society is one that makes the best use of the talents of everyone in that society. Social cohesion and inclusion are more likely to be achieved when people believe that they can improve the quality of life that they enjoy through their own abilities and efforts. The right hon. Member for Darlington made that point.

We like to think of this country as a meritocracy. None the less, even taking into account the right hon. Gentleman's comments, the facts suggest that, at the very least, Britain has over the past few decades become less socially mobile rather than more. Taking his comments at face value, it is perhaps too early to tell precisely what impact this Government's policies have had on social mobility, given the length of time that it takes to research such matters, but the evidence from, for example, my constituency and the academic reports that we have all studied is that there are arguments on both sides about how this Government's policies have affected social mobility. There is at least as much evidence that some of their policies have damaged social mobility more than they have improved it.