Introducing his memorable ‘cornflakes box’ model of social mobility, Boris Johnson argued it would be wrong to try to stamp out inequality: it is an invaluable spur to economic activity and wealth creation. The wealth gap, according to Johnson, should be tolerated as long as there are healthy levels of social (or cornflake) mobility: ‘There are too many cornflakes who aren’t being given a good enough chance to rustle and hustle their way to the top. We gave the packet a good shake in the 1960s; and Mrs Thatcher gave it another good shake in the 1980s.’1
