THE gap between rich and poor is getting “ever wider,” Labour MP Diane Abbott has warned, as research shows the richest 1 per cent of Brits are now wealthier than 70 per cent of the population.

Oxfam’s study shows that the 685,500 richest people in Britain are worth a total of £2.8 trillion, compared with 48 million people whose combined wealth totals £2.4tn.

The charity’s report — Survival of The Richest — highlights widening global inequality after extreme poverty and extreme wealth both increased over the past two years.