27 February 2007 
Tony Blair has spoken about the progress the government has made in tackling poverty and social exclusion.
He told reporters at his monthly press conference that the "untold story" of the Government’s work in this area was that millions of people had been lifted out of poverty in the UK.
But he accepted that a small number of familes and individuals had been left behind.
His comments come following the publication of a document from the Social Exclusion Task Force which updates the PM on the steps which have been made since they launched their Action Plan.
The report shows how since 1997 the bottom 20 per cent of society have seen their incomes rise faster than the richest 20 per cent.
Over the same period, the poorest have enjoyed an average annual increase of 2.6 per cent compared to 2.1 per cent for the richest.
Statistics also show that since 1997, 1.6m children have been lifted out of poverty, partly through general increases in prosperity and partly through measures such as tax credits and SureStart.
The PM also spoke about recent reports suggesting that Britain has become more unequal and is undergoing some form of wider social breakdown.
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