Rich-poor gap grows wider

The gap between rich and poor is still widening under Labour, a former government minister warned today.

Barbara Roche, sacked last year as social exclusion minister, pointed to evidence that Britain is increasingly divided and complained Whitehall's schemes to help the most deprived communities were "grossly burdened" with bureaucracy.

In a speech to centre-Left think tank the Social Market Foundation, she cited census research by Leeds academic Professor Danny Dorling which demonstrates that longstanding "geographical polarisation" between rich and poor has continued under Labour.

Ms Roche said: "We have to prioritise these issues of social exclusion and regeneration. We have no reason to be complacent." She added: "We face the risk bureaucracy will distance communities from the very schemes designed to support them."

Her words will increase the pressure on Gordon Brown to deliver a Budget to help the worst-off, when a hole in public finances has left him little room to manoeuvre.