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Social Exclusion Unit

: I asked for that. We set ourselves a difficult target, as I explained in this Chamber on 30 June in our debate about neighbourhood renewal and the work of the neighbourhood renewal unit. We have said that we want not only to reduce the number of people who suffer from social exclusion and lift them out of that situation, but to narrow the gap—the inequalities—between those people and the rest of society, whether it is measured by educational achievement, longevity or the other targets that we set ourselves. If one's goal is not only to lift the bottom, but to narrow the gap, there are two ways to do it. One can chop the top off, so we solve the problem of the inequality gap in longevity by adopting a policy of euthanasia—[Interruption.] It is in Hansard, and I shall regret saying it. Nevertheless, the serious point that I am trying to make is that the target is challenging, and success in other areas of policy can lead to statistical presentations that may prompt less opportunistic Members than those present to accuse us of failure.