Which Party best represents the British Working Classes ?

[southstandandy]

None of them really - in theory you would think Labour but most of them don't practice what they preach. Look at former PM Tony Blair - with god knows how much property and investments he's a Socialist with a Capitalist approach to life and bank balance.

Is £26,500 now really the national average wage? I thought it would be closer to £30k now?

 

[bobby baxter]

This sneery bitch didn't do Labour any favours

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-30139832

Sadly, you get the feeling she's representative of Labour in the Southern England and certainly in North London.

Said it before, say it again. Of the 'major' political parties, only UKIP and the Greens appear to hold firm beliefs. The other parties seem to lack any kind of conviction. Shocking really.

Sad to admit it but, I agree, she has really given an insight into New Labors contempt for their traditional supporters.

For as long as I can remember I was always a Labor party supporter, later becominga local activist.

Despite concerns regarding Blairs New Labor, particularly after having the misfortune of dealing with Ivor Caplin in 1996, I still welcomed Blair's election victory in 1997, although I had concerns about his admiration for Murdoch and Thatcher, i was just pleased to see the back of the Tories.
Now, as a senior citizen I can't see myself ever voting Labor again.

 

[pb21]

Working class is more of a cultural term these days rather than a financial one. With that being said I don't know, none or equally all of the above.

 

[beorhthelm]

well according to acedemic Matthew Goodwin, and a bunch of polling stats, the working classes are best represented by UKIP.

 

[brighton fella]

I don't want to know who you would vote for, but given that the average salary is £ 26,500, which of the mainstream parties do you believe best represents the interests of those earning £ 26,500 and below ? (I've left out the various nationalists because we are only interested in England )

none.

 

[midnight_rendezvous]

Oh dear.

Oh dear all you like but the only thing austerity is serving is the rich.

 

[looney]

The Greens. They are the only party that claim to be anti austerity. No pro austerity party will ever have the British working classes best interests at heart.

Neither will a party that promotes fuel poverty and the mass import of cheap labour.

 

[Eeyore]

It helps if you define what the 'British working class' actually is in the 21st century.

I'm not sure what it means these days.

I think that is because we were brainwashed under 'New Labour', via the media, into thinking that there was no such thing anymore. There will always be masters and servants.

Vote Engels I say....

 

[DavidinSouthampton]

Just my opinion but:
UKIP - political chancers and a vehicle for Farage's ego and for various failed politicians. People vote for them as a protest.
Tory - The working class that vote for them aren't on minimum wage, zero hour contracts. Their appeal is to the white van man in Rochester.
Labour - they've taken this vote for granted for so long and as a consequence voter apathy is at its very highest amongst the poorest, much to Labour's shame. There are still genuine people who do battle for them but unfortunately they're nowhere near to the top so unable to influence policy. Labour is pretty much the same as the Conservative Party within Parliament - completely out of touch with the electorate.l
Lib Dems & Greens appeal to a specific type of voter and it's not the type who shop at Iceland, Lidl or Bright House.

So...I still say none of them.

That seems a pretty fair assessment!

 

[Guinness Boy]

Just my opinion but:
UKIP - political chancers and a vehicle for Farage's ego and for various failed politicians. People vote for them as a protest.
Tory - The working class that vote for them aren't on minimum wage, zero hour contracts. Their appeal is to the white van man in Rochester.
Labour - they've taken this vote for granted for so long and as a consequence voter apathy is at its very highest amongst the poorest, much to Labour's shame. There are still genuine people who do battle for them but unfortunately they're nowhere near to the top so unable to influence policy. Labour is pretty much the same as the Conservative Party within Parliament - completely out of touch with the electorate.
Lib Dems & Greens appeal to a specific type of voter and it's not the type who shop at Iceland, Lidl or Bright House.

So...I still say none of them.

This. Absolutely spot on.

The SWP has NEVER been interested in the working classes. It's a vehicle for agitprop by champagne socialists/rent-a-cause students/public sector beardy-weirdies. Until I see the likes of Dave Nellist leading the SWP instead of Old Etonian Charlie Kimber and Balliol graduate/descendant of Lord Acton, Alex Callinicos then I sincerely doubt the motives of the SWP.

Again agreed. Even under socialism there's an elite. It's just everyone else who, to quote Mark E Smith "drives a Lada and wears brown trousers".

 

[Silk]

There should be a ”none” option. None of them do.

 

[Indy]

Social media seems to be pushing the Green Party but there seems to be very little difference between them and the Labour Party. They both seem to be keen on spending money without demonstrating where it will come from.

 

[surrey jim]

Monster
Raving
Looney
Party
Surely ?

Second vote for them here

Economic policies

Overview

Our team of experts has decided that Income Tax has not proved popular with the public and will therefore be abolished. It was started in order to finance the Napoleonic war in 1799 and we now believe that the time is right to announce the cessation of hostilities with Napoleon. Some of the money left in the coffers will be used to fill in our part of the Channel Tunnel in case no one has mentioned it to the French. Any remaining money will be strategically placed on a horse at the 3-30 at Haydock Park at odds of at least 12/1 in order to see us through until the next election. Income Tax will be officially replaced by people lending the government a bob or two at the end of the week when we’re a bit skint.

Other policies:

We will issue a 99p coin to save on change.

The Official Monster Raving Loony Party will not join the single European currency. We will invite all Europeans countries to JOIN THE POUND.

Rich people should be taxed to pay for the printing of money, as they use most of it.

Tax credits will be paid to nice people. There will be a “total *******” tax for everyone else.

We feel that a £57,000 a year salary is quite ample for the average person to survive on and that the £118,000 expenses that MP’s also manage to wangle is far too much. The expenses money will in future be distributed to the poor and needy so that they can waste it instead.

 

[The Birdman]

Labour will keep the northerners poor for votes the Tories need to develop the infrastructure in the North so we don't just rely on London and South East for work and it will also take the pressure off the South East for housing. We need to rebuild our manufacturing in the Midlands and North and to have a chance of paying our country debts off so our kids and grand children can have a chance for a better life.

 

[Return of the Rev]

Labour will keep the northerners poor for votes the Tories need to develop the infrastructure in the North so we don't just rely on London and South East for work and it will also take the pressure off the South East for housing. We need to rebuild our manufacturing in the Midlands and North and to have a chance of paying our country debts off so our kids and grand children can have a chance for a better life.

The kids have far more in material value than we did, if that makes for a better life well I'll be a monkeys brother!

 

[Hastings gull]

None of them really - in theory you would think Labour but most of them don't practice what they preach. Look at former PM Tony Blair - with god knows how much property and investments he's a Socialist with a Capitalist approach to life and bank balance.

Is £26,500 now really the national average wage? I thought it would be closer to £30k now?

I read this today in the DM online - before you start, I read several papers! Admittedly the DM is going to revel in Labour's embarrassment after that white van man story, but it is nonetheless hard to criticise this. Even the most diehard supporter of labour would surely struggle to see how the Milibands of this world would connect with traditional voters in ,say, northern industrial towns. They see the Westminster "elite" (dislike this expression) of Champagne Socialists as no better than Eton Toffs! And UKIP go from strength to strength, as they fill the vacuum.

" . . .Nor does the snooty metropolitan elite seem to grasp that swathes of society do not work in the public sector and that two-thirds of private-sector workers do not even have pensions. I’ve mocked Miliband for being a Hampstead socialist who does not understand lower-middle-class aspiration. Like Emily Thornberry, he lives in a grand house in North London. He studied politics, philosophy and economics at Oxford, the obligatory degree for our out-of-touch political class, and then, because he was considered ‘Labour aristocracy’, went straight to work for Gordon Brown at the Treasury.
The Labour supporting New Statesman has questioned whether Ed Miliband can succeed
He had a brief sabbatical teaching at Harvard University. Then he was gifted a safe seat in Doncaster, fast-tracked into the Cabinet, after which he became leader of the party in his early 40s. Some struggle.
Miliband’s life experience is extraordinarily narrow. He has never worked in or run a business, and can scarcely bring himself to mention wealth-creation in his speeches. He has never lived or worked among the urban poor, as Clement Attlee, Labour’s greatest prime minister, did as a young man at Toynbee Hall in London’s East End."