Brief Thoughts on the Modern British Class System: An Old Tory Writes

by Edward Frostick

Contrary to some opinions, I don’t believe there’s anything wrong, or ever has been, with the traditional working class.

The underclass is something different. There’s a lefty book called ‘Chavs: the demonization of the working class’, which is an insult to the working class. By definition, chavs aren’t working class, no matter how much the Left like to pretend they are. They’re underclass; and more often than not, unemployable underclass.

The underclass is a product of the welfare state. There has always been an underclass. But disease and parental negligence kept it to a tolerable level. Needless to say, the underclass is even less desirable than most of the immigrants.

At the other end we have a comparatively new greed class, which I’ve already covered. When I was young it was hardly noticeable. And as I said, it’s largely a product of the 80s ‘greed is good’. From then on, we have had directors ripping off their shareholder employers and asset stripping which has degenerated to people like Fred Goodwin ruining whole industries.

Back in the 1970s, Arnold Weinstock was a hate figure of the left. The hate wasn’t entirely unjustified. But he ran GEC for GEC. He didn’t run it into the ground for personal gain or glory, and it became generally regarded as Britain’s flagship.

His successor destroyed it. Shares fell from something like £11 to a halfpenny. It is no more.

These days industries seem to be run by the Goodwins rather than the Weinstocks.