A thread about class, and values.

We on the left have been entrenched in class warfare for decades. It’s still the defining trait for many in labour, are you working class? Middle class? We’ve judged people based upon what their trade is, or whether they wear a suit to work...

Without ever considering whether this is relevant to anything in the 21st century.
Where do class boundaries lie? Is a plumber in his 50’s who’s paid his mortgage off and has a house in Spain more or less working class than the Amazon factory guy running around for minimum wage?

And the ‘working class tories’ who voted to leave the EU and believe Boris Johnson is the best thing since sliced bread? How can we look across the workplace at them and believe they are an ally when their vote actively harms society?

The notion of a party representing the working class en-masse made sense when men were working in dangerous environments for 70-80 hours per week and had little or no interaction with others from outside their social group.

But the world has changed. The working class has changed, split into myriad factions. Some are forward thinking and progressive, others inward looking and conservative. Some are first or second generation immigrants with roots around the world. Some come from money or have...

High earning partners. It’s no longer possible to define ‘the working class’. Which is why it’s no longer possible for labour to represent ‘the working class’

I no more want to share a party with a Brexit voting social conservative than they want to share a party with me

Which is why we in labour need to move away from using simple ‘class’ as a definer. We have to think about values. We have to consider more than income or social standing when we judge our allies.

We truly can, indeed we truly should stand alongside a progressive thinking banker or CEO, rather than standing with a working class conservative purely because we share a workplace and income band with them.

Values are all that matter now.