May pledges to build a ‘shared society’

In a speech to the Charity Commission, Prime Minister Theresa May has promised that the government will take an active role in tackling ‘everyday injustices’ and building a ‘shared society’.

During the speech May confirmed she was determined to build a shared society based on the values of citizenship, responsibility and fairness and warned that while ‘obvious injustices’ receive a lot of attention, the ‘everyday injustices’ often go unnoticed.

The Prime Minister said: “Overcoming (social) divisions and bringing our country together is the central challenge of our time.

“That means building the shared society. A society that doesn’t just value our individual rights but focuses rather more on the responsibilities we have to one another; a society that respects the bonds of family, community, citizenship and strong institutions that we share as a union of people and nations; a society with a commitment to fairness at its heart.”

May added: “This government will seize the opportunity to build the shared society by embracing genuine and wide-ranging social reform. We will move beyond the narrow focus on social justice – where we help the very poorest – and social mobility – where we help the brightest among the poor. Instead, we will engage in a more wide-ranging process of social reform so that those who feel that the system is stacked against them – those just above the threshold that typically attracts the government’s focus today yet who are by no means rich or well off – are also given the support they need.”