Forty prominent progressive academics are urging Prime Minister Andy Burnham's government to join a new global initiative aimed at tackling inequality. The experts, including Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz and Kate Pickett, co-author of The Spirit Level, have signed an open letter calling for the UK to help establish a new International Panel on Inequality (IPI) at the UN.
The academics state that the IPI would offer "an independent, trusted global evidence base on the causes and consequences of inequality, alongside analysis of the policies that can reduce it." They suggest that by backing this initiative, Mr Burnham could "cement the organising principles of his politics globally."
The letter also highlights the UK's upcoming G20 chairmanship in 2027, presenting it as an opportunity for Mr Burnham to demonstrate leadership on the world stage. The proposed IPI, which Brazil, South Africa, Norway, and Spain have been involved in setting up, is intended to track extreme wealth disparities and recommend global policy solutions, echoing the approach of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Foreign Office minister for growth, Stewart Wood, responded to the letter, stating that the government will "work with allies to build the coalition we need for economic change – to boost global growth, combat inequality, make our international financial institutions more effective, and back more coordinated development support and climate action."