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Britain's new working-class pride could be a bonus for Labour Britain's new working-class pride could be a bonus for Labour
(about 13 hours later)
Salt of the earth, that's us. Maldon seasalt, admittedly. And probably not real, dirt-beneath-the-fingernails earth. But still, almost six in 10 Britons now define themselves as working class, according to the State of the Nation report released on Monday by the thinktank British Future. Even among those officially classed as ABC1s, almost half think of themselves as down with the proletariat, albeit inexplicably trapped in middle management. We've become, it seems, downwardly mobile.Salt of the earth, that's us. Maldon seasalt, admittedly. And probably not real, dirt-beneath-the-fingernails earth. But still, almost six in 10 Britons now define themselves as working class, according to the State of the Nation report released on Monday by the thinktank British Future. Even among those officially classed as ABC1s, almost half think of themselves as down with the proletariat, albeit inexplicably trapped in middle management. We've become, it seems, downwardly mobile.
What a difference from 1997, when John Prescott famously conceded even he was middle class now – although with working-class values. As late as 2011, the polling organisation Britain Thinks found 43% of us felt middle class and only 24% working class (nobody admitted being upper class, but perhaps the truly posh don't talk to people with clipboards).What a difference from 1997, when John Prescott famously conceded even he was middle class now – although with working-class values. As late as 2011, the polling organisation Britain Thinks found 43% of us felt middle class and only 24% working class (nobody admitted being upper class, but perhaps the truly posh don't talk to people with clipboards).
It's tempting to think that a government of public schoolboys has finally given gentrification a bad name, encouraging an outburst of pleb solidarity. Or at least that we're finally sufficiently embarrassed by the middle classes' vice-like grip on the professions to start pretending we came up the hard way.It's tempting to think that a government of public schoolboys has finally given gentrification a bad name, encouraging an outburst of pleb solidarity. Or at least that we're finally sufficiently embarrassed by the middle classes' vice-like grip on the professions to start pretending we came up the hard way.
But as ever with polls, the clue is in the question. Two years ago, YouGov found 66% of Britons deemed themselves middle class if offered a choice of working, middle or upper – but given a fourth option of "upper-working" class, the majority were suddenly working class. Which suggests many "middles" aren't stereotypically smug, but anxious and insecure – convinced they've only just scraped over the threshold, that it wouldn't take much to tip them back.But as ever with polls, the clue is in the question. Two years ago, YouGov found 66% of Britons deemed themselves middle class if offered a choice of working, middle or upper – but given a fourth option of "upper-working" class, the majority were suddenly working class. Which suggests many "middles" aren't stereotypically smug, but anxious and insecure – convinced they've only just scraped over the threshold, that it wouldn't take much to tip them back.
And that's a feeling only intensified by the long squeeze on living standards. The rise of the faux-working classes surely reflects in part the confusion caused by finding that a middle-class salary no longer seems to guarantee an effortlessly comfortable middle-class lifestyle.And that's a feeling only intensified by the long squeeze on living standards. The rise of the faux-working classes surely reflects in part the confusion caused by finding that a middle-class salary no longer seems to guarantee an effortlessly comfortable middle-class lifestyle.
Things are even tougher of course for the traditional working classes, the pool of manual jobs by which they were defined shrinking painfully. But habits once associated with the low-paid – struggling to pay bills, running out of cash before payday, renting because you'll never be rich enough to buy – are creeping up the income ladder, confusing people as to their social status.Things are even tougher of course for the traditional working classes, the pool of manual jobs by which they were defined shrinking painfully. But habits once associated with the low-paid – struggling to pay bills, running out of cash before payday, renting because you'll never be rich enough to buy – are creeping up the income ladder, confusing people as to their social status.
So what does all this mean for the traditional party of the working classes, which for so long seemed faintly embarrassed by its association with what Peter Mandelson once flippantly called "northern, horny-handed, dirty-overalled people"?So what does all this mean for the traditional party of the working classes, which for so long seemed faintly embarrassed by its association with what Peter Mandelson once flippantly called "northern, horny-handed, dirty-overalled people"?
The political convention is that speaking for one class alienates another: that focusing on Labour heartlands scares home counties swing voters witless. But it may be that the two have grown closer than they look. All of which bodes well potentially for Ed Miliband's grand wheeze of "one nation" Labour, if only anyone understood what it meant.The political convention is that speaking for one class alienates another: that focusing on Labour heartlands scares home counties swing voters witless. But it may be that the two have grown closer than they look. All of which bodes well potentially for Ed Miliband's grand wheeze of "one nation" Labour, if only anyone understood what it meant.
According to the man himself on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show on Sunday, it's partly about preserving child benefit for the middle classes or winter fuel payments for millionaires, but redressing the balance through progressive taxation. But it's also about spending less in difficult times. It's about tackling rogue bankers and sending more working-class kids to university and, especially, about not being Tony Blair. And according to his New Year's message, it also has something to do with a man at a food bank walking 11 miles to a job interview because he couldn't afford the bus fare.According to the man himself on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show on Sunday, it's partly about preserving child benefit for the middle classes or winter fuel payments for millionaires, but redressing the balance through progressive taxation. But it's also about spending less in difficult times. It's about tackling rogue bankers and sending more working-class kids to university and, especially, about not being Tony Blair. And according to his New Year's message, it also has something to do with a man at a food bank walking 11 miles to a job interview because he couldn't afford the bus fare.
For all I know it may also embrace raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, and feel warmly towards brown paper packages tied up with string: it's not that these ideas are impossibly contradictory, just that cramming too many of them beneath one umbrella term renders it faintly meaningless. Snatching Tory clothes is one thing, but unless worn with flair, they make you look rather like a confused shoplifter, compulsively stealing stuff you can't actually use.For all I know it may also embrace raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, and feel warmly towards brown paper packages tied up with string: it's not that these ideas are impossibly contradictory, just that cramming too many of them beneath one umbrella term renders it faintly meaningless. Snatching Tory clothes is one thing, but unless worn with flair, they make you look rather like a confused shoplifter, compulsively stealing stuff you can't actually use.
Labour's task this year is to focus on what actually stops Britain feeling like "one nation". When asked in the same British Future report what most divides the country, only 12% put the gap between north and south first, and only 35% the gulf between rich and poor. Nor, despite the coalition's best efforts, was the top answer tension between taxpayers and welfare claimants (unsurprisingly, when so many people are both simultaneously). The biggest divide was reckoned to be between immigrants and those born in Britain, an issue Labour dances nervously around – endlessly apologising for not having taken worries about immigration more seriously in government – but never quite tackles.Labour's task this year is to focus on what actually stops Britain feeling like "one nation". When asked in the same British Future report what most divides the country, only 12% put the gap between north and south first, and only 35% the gulf between rich and poor. Nor, despite the coalition's best efforts, was the top answer tension between taxpayers and welfare claimants (unsurprisingly, when so many people are both simultaneously). The biggest divide was reckoned to be between immigrants and those born in Britain, an issue Labour dances nervously around – endlessly apologising for not having taken worries about immigration more seriously in government – but never quite tackles.
But even here, there's hope. When British Future asked two focus groups what it takes for a newcomer to become "one of us", the answers were surprisingly sane. Learn English, obey the law, make friends outside your own community, treat women as equal to men and respect the right to free speech – hardly unreasonable, since most migrants want to do exactly those things anyway. It's an unexpectedly relaxed view of Britishness, not hard to reconcile with liberal instincts – and a belief in the powerful economic and social benefits of immigration, so long as there is integration.But even here, there's hope. When British Future asked two focus groups what it takes for a newcomer to become "one of us", the answers were surprisingly sane. Learn English, obey the law, make friends outside your own community, treat women as equal to men and respect the right to free speech – hardly unreasonable, since most migrants want to do exactly those things anyway. It's an unexpectedly relaxed view of Britishness, not hard to reconcile with liberal instincts – and a belief in the powerful economic and social benefits of immigration, so long as there is integration.
But it's the findings on class that should really give Labour heart. For they suggest serious trouble in the middle – a fear that life is going backwards for many natural Conservative voters in flagrant breach of the age-old Tory promise that hard work will be rewarded. No wonder a working-class hero is now something to be: even if you're actually an accountant from Guildford. But it's the findings on class that should really give Labour heart. For they suggest serious trouble in the middle – a fear that life is going backwards for many natural Conservative voters in flagrant breach of the age-old Tory promise that hard work will be rewarded. No wonder a working-class hero is now something to be: even if you're actually an accountant from Guildford.
• The subheading on this article was amended on 14 January 2013. It originally referred to "the party" breaking a promise on hard work, which, following on from the headline, would be taken to refer to Labour, when this was not meant.