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Class War issue 77: Editorial
One of the recurring themes in British politics is the desire of Prime Ministers, both Labour and Tory, to bury the issue of class. In the 1950s Harold MacMillan announced "You've never had it so good". Of course the person who never had it so good was Macmillan himself. (We've never had it at all).
A generation later, Margaret Thatcher stepped forward to tell us "We are all workers now" - a statement that looked somewhat weak in 1981 when riots broke out in every British city in the same month as those famous workers Prince Charles and Lady Diana got married. Never mind, that's Thatcherism for you.
Rudely failing to read its own obituary notice, the working class went on to give Mrs Thatcher a bloody nose over the Poll Tax and before you could say "Trafalgar Square", Maggie was out and John Major was in and it was someone else's turn to tell us that we no longer existed.
Within a short time Major was talking of and calling for a classless society. Now we are all in favour of a classless society - one where no rulers exist, where the state has been abolished and people control their own lives. Obviously this was not Johnny's big idea. His classless society was little different to that of his predecessor, was much trumpeted throughout the media and political establishment - and then it sank without trace. Rather like Mr Major.
More recently the Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott announced, to great fanfare, that he now regards himself as middle class, not working class. From where we are standing "2 Jags", you are right for once.
It was against this background that Tony Blair stepped forward with his announcement that "soon we will all be middle class", and that he envisages a middle class Britain built on ladders of opportunity. Blair's speech, to the Institute of Public Policy Research in London, was lauded in the Daily Mirror and by New Labourites everywhere. Unfortunately the Mirror fell flat on its face within 24 hours, when 83% of its readers responded to a phone poll by saying that they were working class, not middle class. It will take a little longer for Mr Blair to fall arse over tit, but he will.
Offensively Blair spoke of a meritocratic middle class that includes millions whose ambitions are bigger than their grandparents. Does he really believe that our grandparents lacked ambition? That they lacked dreams or desires? The working class has never lacked ambition, although all too often we have lacked opportunity, resources and sadly often the will to organise collectively.
Despite his warm words, Blair has no more intention of eliminating poverty than any of his predecessors - all of whom have made similar statements at some stage. Nor does Blair actually believe in greater opportunities for the working class - one glance at his cabinet illustrates that Labour's New Deal means government of the middle classes, for the middle classes. Once a public school boy, always a public school boy.
As we enter the new millennium, we should be under no illusions that we are at war, and that our war is a class war. Knowing nothing of our history, customs and practice (and caring even less), Macmillan, Thatcher, Major and now Blair have all tried to wish the working class out of existence. In doing this they make the same fatal mistake - they underestimate their enemy. We are still here - still working class, still proud and still ready to give you a bloody nose.
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