When The Spirit Level was published 15 years ago in the latter days of Gordon Brown’s premiership, its analysis of the corrosive social impact of inequality turned it into an instant bestseller. Since then, as they noted in the Guardian last month, the authors Kate Pickett and Richard Wilkinson have been invited to give more than 1,000 presentations of their groundbreaking research, which has now been updated in a new report.
The book’s core observation remains the same: by reinforcing “the idea that some people are worth much more than others”, extreme inequality damages the social fabric and gives the lie to political rhetoric about “all being in this together”. But as the latest analysis of CEO pay by the High Pay Centre confirms, such considerations continue to be treated with blithe indifference at the very top of business. According to the thinktank’s report, pay for the leaders of the UK’s 100 biggest listed companies now stands at the highest level on record. The average chief executive in 2023 benefited from more than 100 times the pay of the average full-time worker in Britain. AstraZeneca’s CEO, Pascal Soriot, was the highest-paid, receiving £16.85m, compared with £15.3m in 2022. This year, Mr Soriot, who has undoubtedly done a good job, is on course to receive £18.7m – 1,000 times the minimum wage.
