Today’s ONS figures show that the income gap between the richest and poorest is at its lowest level since 1986. The graph below shows the Gini coefficient for disposable income in 2011/12 was 32.3%, a fall from last year and lower than every year until the mid-eighties. For all Labour’s hand-wringing, ONS attribute this primarily to a drop in earnings for the at the top and an increase among the poorest fifth.

Also worth noting the growth in disposable income for rich and poor households since 1977:

ONS says the rich are not getting richer whilst the poor get poorer. This will undermine the rhetoric of many on the left. Fundamentally undermining Ed’s plan to fight the election arguing that while the economy might be growing, everyone is worse off.