“I CAME in to politics to help change people’s lives for the better.”

How many times have we heard that?

It was the answer given last week by Theresa May when the BBC’s Nick Robinson asked what motivated her to keep ploughing on at No.10 amid the backbiting, plotting and dithering that has characterised her premiership.

It was a fair, if rather predictable question, which yielded a fair, if rather glib response.

In fairness to Mrs May, we don’t doubt that she came into politics for the right reasons.

Her degree from Oxford and spell at the Bank of England ensured she probably had plenty less stressful and better paid options than becoming Maidenhead’s MP.

It is to the PM’s credit that she has spoken of her determination to improve the life chances of those less fortunate than herself. She has been the driving force behind the Government’s new website aimed at shining a light on disparities between different racial groups on areas such as health and job prospects.

None of the information is new but there is no harm in highlighting facts, such as, unemployment for black, Asian and minority ethnic people is nearly double that of white Britons, and that white British pupils on free school meals perform the worst in some age groups.

This is thought-provoking stuff, but highlighting problems is one thing, finding solutions, making them law, and funding them is another thing entirely.

This government has shown it is very adept at cutting spending on services used by minorities and vulnerable people.

If Mrs May is serious about helping the disadvantaged then she must lead properly-funded strategies that help these people rather than simply launching a website to point out the challenges our communities face.