The working-class: a tribe in danger of extinction

On 2 April 2013, Frank Field, MP, said this at the ‘Diversity and the White Working Class’ conference, which took place at the University of London:

“That group which used to run the Labour Party is now almost forgotten by it; the working class… In my lifetime, we’ve moved from a Labour Party which was working class-dominated. Some trendy London middle class went along with it but were subjected, at least publicly, to the moral economy of the working class. We’ve moved to a stage where that minority is in a governing position."

Field then added that this trendy minority had imposed ‘upon the working class its moral economy’ and described this situation as ‘a real crisis of representation.’

Dr Rebecca Taylor criticised the ‘writing off of sections of the population, often white, often living on council estates and nearly always poor.’

She continued:

“Often, the ‘chav’ is set up as ‘too white’, failing to keep up with modern Britain, implicitly in opposition to the culturally sophisticated multicultural savvy middle classes.”

The working-classes were a ‘tribe in danger of extinction, ONE WHICH NEEDS PROTECTING FROM NEW DIVERSITY,’ she said.

Margaret Hodge had ‘caused an uproar,’ she added, when, in 2006:

“She commented that eight out of 10 white working-class voters in her constituency may be tempted to vote for the BNP because ‘no one else is listening’ to their concerns over unemployment, high house prices, and the housing of asylum seekers in the area.”

Dr Gareth Harris said this:

“There is a relationship between support for the far right and being working class…

Support for the far right isn’t just a response to changes in the demographic makeup of the UK but strongly coupled with A PROFOUND SENSE OF DISTRUST OF THE MAINSTREAM POLITICAL PROCESS. PEOPLE ARE BECOMING MORE AND MORE DISENGAGED and I think this is very dangerous.”