Soaring levels of inequality in the UK helped ‘contribute to Brexit’, Oxfam says

SOARING levels of inequality in the UK helped ‘contribute to Brexit’ say Oxfam, who revealed the richest 1% now owns more than 20 times the total wealth of the poorest fifth.

The charity said this made the country one of the most unequal in the developed world, and was one of the factors in Britain voting to leave the European Union.

The figures suggest around 634,000 Britons are worth 20 times as much as the poorest 13 million, with Theresa May urged to take action to close the gap between the "haves" and the "have nots".

The report said: "The UK is one of the most unequal developed countries in the world.

“Three decades of high-level inequality have had a profound impact, leading many people to believe that they have little stake in society and to feel locked out of politics and economic opportunity.

"Whatever your views on Brexit, the referendum brought divisions within our country to a head, with many people expressing distrust and disconnection with political processes and voting for change in the hope that it would improve their economic position."

It used data from Credit Suisse which showed the richest 10% of the UK population own over half of the country's total wealth (54%).

The top 1% own nearly a quarter (23%), whilst the poorest 20% share just 0.8% of the country's wealth between them.

The paper welcomed the Prime Minister's recognition of the need to shake-up corporate culture and suggested a four-point plan action plan for her to adopt, including putting workers on company boards.

Rachael Orr, head of Oxfam's UK Programme, said: "Inequality is a massive barrier to tackling poverty and has created an economy that clearly isn't working for everyone.