While the class war against workers reaches a crescendo as the RMT union took the first day of their fight for decent wages, job security and safety, its worth remembering some basic realities of how much richer the rich are getting while the rest of us get poorer.

At the end of last year statistics showed that the share of wealth owned by the world's richest people soared during the Covid pandemic.

The World Inequality Report said that 2020 saw the steepest increase in billionaires' wealth on record.

Meanwhile, 100 million people sank into extreme poverty, the report from the Paris-based World Inequality Lab said.

The richest 10 per cent of the population now takes 52 per cent of global income and the poorest half just 8 per cent, the report said.

The 228-page report from last year, also said that since 1995, billionaires' wealth had risen from 1 per cent to 3 per cent.

"This increase was exacerbated during the Covid pandemic. In fact, 2020 marked the steepest increase in global billionaires' share of wealth on record," the report said.

The world's richest 1 per cent has taken more than a third of all additional wealth accumulated since 1995, while the bottom 50 per cent captured just 2 per cent.

The researchers found that the world's 52 richest individuals saw the value of their wealth grow by 9.2 per cent per year for the past 25 years, well above less wealthy social groups.

Women's share of total global income from work was less than 35 per cent, up from near 30 per cent in 1990 but still short of parity with men.

According to the report Europe was the world's most equal region, with the richest 10 per cent taking 36 per cent of the income share. The Middle East and North Africa was the most unequal, with the wealthiest 10 per cent taking 58 per cent of income.

During the pandemic, state intervention by more prosperous nations, s

uch as furlough and benefits payments, was vital to keep more people from sinking into poverty. The report notes that poorer countries did not have the resources to prop up income and save jobs.

What we know now is that things have got worse since the pandemic as the world reels under the impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine but also because the greed inherent within capitalism has gone out of control.

The rich don’t even pretend to hide their opulence. The only thing they hide is the actual cash so it can’t be reached and taxed. Taxes are for small people like you and I – not for the rich.

I remember an optimistic saying from a few years ago that said “another world is possible”. I don’t hold with that. I believe “socialism is essential” now more than it has ever been. It’s the only hope to tilt the balance of power away from rich and to place it in the hands of the people who create all the wealth – the working class.