Beyond Class Conflict.

As soon as our Prime Minister mentioned the 'E' word in parliament last week the Tory spinsters rushed to their phones, media contacts and minister debriefing rooms to slate the 'horrific return to class war and politics of envy'.

The shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley argued this was the mantra of a dying party. 'Britain isn't about schools, class, or social networks but about individuals and what they can achieve'. I agree but Britain is ridden with inequality and these inequalities are growing. This time however it's not the proletariat versus the bourgeois but the citizen versus the market. Is it any wonder people are falling out of love with a system which seems immune to criticism but is wrecking the lives of many; while privileging and protecting those at the top. The average salary in the UK is £20,000 a year. A person working full time will earn around £12,000. Yet we learn that 5000 bankers in the City are receiving bonuses of £1 million or more. Every person in the UK is covering these banks to the tune of £14,000, yet unproportional bank charges, which disproportionally affect the poor, are held up by the courts. The argument can be made that governments shouldn't set prices but the lack of remorse and continual monopoly of the banks will hinder any movement to reform. Unaccountable to the public even when they own up to 65% of the shares.

When the PM mentioned Eton to the gasps of Conservatives and the cheers of Labour back benchers, was not the re-instigation of class conflict but a conflict about opportunity. Cameron, Johnson, Osborne, the triple whammy of a conservative victory would see the 3 most powerful position in Britain in the hands of a group who all went to Eton and were members of the Bollingdon club. The sense of entitlement , ties to the aristocracy, backing of the rich and too powerful to fail are all symbols of traditional class conflict. However what resonates with the public is how these features are epitomized in today's economic crisis. What grates the man in the street today is not what your social class or values are but how the opportunity to better ones self has been unfulfilled by the market economy. How, after 12 years of Labour, still where you are from and what school you went to defines your life prospects. From the likely hood to ascertain a degree to receive IVF treatment. People have a right to be angry an out this and to direct that anger into politics. At least this time the working and middle class are fairly united. They are tired of Labour but they don't like the conservative front bench. They don't care much about the left or right anymore but about fairness, opportunity and accountability.


Andrew Lansley is right in valuing the individuals worth not their background. Unfortunately it is often the access to education, where your born and who you know that will not only determine your standard of living but you opportunities for advancement for yourself and your family. Your background no longer defines your rights but it still overwhelming determines your worth.