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Social Exclusion Unit

: That is an important point, and I shall answer it in my remarks. The reason that I place so much emphasis on the policy is that it is a deliberate policy and choice not only to lift up the least well-off and bring in the socially excluded, but to narrow the gap. It is a commitment to equality. We recognise that it makes, first, our task harder, and secondly, our critics louder from all points on the political spectrum. When statistics are rightly set out in the public domain and highlighted, the policy leads to headlines, speeches and policy pamphlets saying that the strategy is failing because the gap is sometimes getting bigger. I shall provide the figures for longevity, and all boats are rising with the tide. Sometimes, however, the inequalities mask the success.