Even now, Theresa May is still talking about ending “burning injustices”.



On Tuesday, announcing new measures for people with disabilities, the outgoing prime minister spoke of her determination to remedy unfairness in society, returning to the theme that has underpinned her vision for domestic policy since she took over from David Cameron in the summer of 2016.

In reality, May will leave office having improved none of the pressing challenges she identified in her first speech as prime minister nearly three years ago.

Analysts from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, an independent social research charity, examined eight social challenges May identified in her first speech outside Downing Street — including disparities in mental health treatment, the housing crisis, and poor education outcomes for white working-class boys — and concluded that she failed to make a real difference in any of them.

Despite her personal commitment, May failed in the ambition she laid out in that speech to make society and the economy fairer for working-class voters who were “just about managing” to get by, the analysts said.

Helen Barnard, the foundation’s deputy director for policy and partnerships, told BuzzFeed News: “Theresa May correctly identified the burning injustices as constraints which many families face, but there haven’t been the major steps to change the systems that produce these injustices. And some policies have continued which fuel them, such as the benefits freeze.”

This is what the analysts concluded:

