The statistics are beyond dispute, and are published by the government:
For the latest three-year average period, 2001–03, the infant mortality rate (for all babies with father’s occupation stated) was 5.0 deaths per 1,000 live births, and the rate for those in ‘routine and manual’ groups was 6.0 per 1,000. This was higher than the rates for those in the ‘managerial and professional’ (3.5 per 1,000) and ‘intermediate’ (4.7 per 1,000) groups.
The infant mortality rate among the ‘routine and manual’ group was 19% higher than for the total population in 2001–03, compared with 13% higher in the baseline period of 1997–99.
Dawn Primarolo says it is difficult to change health inequalities. Indeed it is. But they have changed. They are getting worse. See Killing Babies
