THE MIDDLE CLASS MYTH

In reviewing Owen Jones's book "Cavs: The Demonization of the Working Class", the journalist Carol Midgely makes some valid points. "When Margaret Thatcher came to power in 1979 more than seven million people earned a living in manufacturing. Now that figure is about 2.83 million. Much easier to blame the unemployed than the forces that caused the unemployment. The Thatcher experiment, Jones says, repositioned working class not as something to be proud of but something to escape from. Being middle class was the holy grail. The Dockers, miners, skilled factory workers and car workers of Britain have watched powerless as their jobs disappeared or were sent abroad." (Times, 28 May) Here we have Jones and Midgely making the usual mistake about class. All men and women who because of their lack of property are forced to seek work for a wage or a salary are members of the working class. Whether you work in a factory or an office whether you push a barrow or a pen if you have to seek a wage or a salary in order to live you are a member of the working class.RD