Current Affairs The Labour Party

[JimmyJeffers]

Exactamundo. The working class man now drives a nice car, has a nice phone, goes on Holiday every year.

And generally despises people 'sponging' off benefits and sat on their arse all day watching Jeremy Kyle.

sounds like a Tory doesn't it? Hence why they keep winning

Wtf?! How many Tesco workers on 7hr per week contracts do you know driving nice cars and going on holidays every year. And as for ‘sponging off benefits’ ... If the only way Labour can survive is by pandering to the likes of yourself then I hope they fade away

 

[Mrk]

Wtf?! How many Tesco workers on 7hr per week contracts do you know driving nice cars and going on holidays every year. And as for ‘sponging off benefits’ ... If the only way Labour can survive is by pandering to the likes of yourself then I hope they fade away

I think @arminisgod's point is that, relatively, the "working class man" at the very least has much better access to 'nice' things that would have been out of reach in previous generations. This isn't necessarily because they are paid more (relatively) than your average member of the working class was paid in the past, but because 'nice' things have become much cheaper and accessible (holidays, cars, technology, knowledge) due to the advances in technology and general liberalisation in world trade.

 

[dannyboy]

Exactamundo. The working class man now drives a nice car, has a nice phone, goes on Holiday every year.

And generally despises people 'sponging' off benefits and sat on their arse all day watching Jeremy Kyle.

sounds like a Tory doesn't it? Hence why they keep winning

Yet among working age people Labour remained more popular than the Tories even at the last election...

Older voters who are home owners have flocked to the Tories whereas younger voters who aren't and often find themselves in insecure work have not. These are the battle lines upon which UK politics is now drawn.

The problem for Labour is that elements of both of these groups made up what was once its core vote but Starmer has done nothing to address the issue. In fact, he's probably managed to alienate voters on both sides of the demographic.

 

[JimmyJeffers]

I think @arminisgod's point is that, relatively, the "working class man" at the very least has much better access to 'nice' things that would have been out of reach in previous generations. This isn't necessarily because they are paid more (relatively) than your average member of the working class was paid in the past, but because 'nice' things have become much cheaper and accessible (holidays, cars, technology, knowledge) due to the advances in technology and general liberalisation in world trade.

Not in my experience. I think what defines working class has definitely changed but the lower parts of society lead a horrible and chaotic existence.

 

[Mrk]

Not in my experience. I think what defines working class has definitely changed but the lower parts of society lead a horrible and chaotic existence.

The fact that they have more access to ‘nice’ things isn’t up for debate, it’s a fact - again, not because they are paid more or have more relative wealth, but because ‘nice’ things have become a hell of a lot cheaper.

However, your point does highlight that what we all define as ‘working class’ probably differs greatly from person to person (about 50-60% of people in the UK define themselves as working class I believe). If you narrow that down even more and focus on the ‘lower parts of society’, then, you’d probably be correct in your assessment - but again, that comes down to how we define working class.

 

[Milkman]

New 21st century democratic socialist party please.

 

[Charro]

Not in my experience. I think what defines working class has definitely changed but the lower parts of society lead a horrible and chaotic existence.

I dislike most of what he says, but I tend to agree with him on that one.

All depends on how you define working class though. It’s certainly been skewed over the years and we’ve reached a point where working class people relate to the tories more than they do Labour.

I know people on just above minimum wage that have very comfortable lives, or at least seem to have.

Think the general point is, Labour need to view the working class in a more positive, aspirational light, than they have done before.

But raising the minimum wage, workers rights, abandoning zero hour contracts etc are all things working class people should be voting for but a lot don’t seem to care anymore and think the tories are the ones to improve their lives.

I find it impossible to understand how we’ve reached such a point.

 

[JimmyJeffers]

I dislike most of what he says, but I tend to agree with him on that one.

All depends on how you define working class though. It’s certainly been skewed over the years and we’ve reached a point where working class people relate to the tories more than they do Labour.

I know people on just above minimum wage that have very comfortable lives, or at least seem to have.

Think the general point is, Labour need to view the working class in a more positive, aspirational light, than they have done before.

But raising the minimum wage, workers rights, abandoning zero hour contracts etc are all things working class people should be voting for but a lot don’t seem to care anymore and think the tories are the ones to improve their lives.

I find it impossible to understand how we’ve reached such a point.

cos they changed the narrative to blaming foreigners. Simply put.
I used to get clients fuming at immigrants cos they were getting paid peanuts on UC.

 

[Tin-Tin]

Looks like its going to be a bit of a horror show for them

 

[Connor]

 

[TheSecondComing]

Starmer has to go, he’s leading this party down a path that stands for nothing.

 

[edge]

Wtf?! How many Tesco workers on 7hr per week contracts do you know driving nice cars and going on holidays every year. And as for ‘sponging off benefits’ ... If the only way Labour can survive is by pandering to the likes of yourself then I hope they fade away

The problem is if the labour party dosnt appeal to the people who he is on about they will never get in power ,and eventually will do what you say and fade away.
Sad but true most people only give a toss about themselves
so you have to give them something to get behind to get there vote.
Most people will agree ,yes it's wrong this that and the other is happening , but in the end they will vote for there own needs 9 out of ten times when it comes to putting a cross on the box.
Labour needs to find out why , what its offering is not appealing to these people or it will continue down it's current path of having a ever decreasing chances of winning an election.

 

[tim cahill]

Results so far tonight have been embarrassing for Labour and Starmer. It's on him without a doubt. He's been pathetic.

 

[TheWinslowBoy]

Starmer has to go, he’s leading this party down a path that stands for nothing.

There's not a chance that the PLP get rid of him because they know the membership won't be fooled again.

Personally I'd support Clive Lewis but they'll plough on with Starmer until enough of the membership have left and they can have New Labour all to themselves.

 

[Wizard]

Give it 2 years and let's see the lay of the land once the vaccine bump is gone and once the real fallout from covid and Brexit hits