The billionaire-owned S*n has some nerve to try and suggest Labour are run by an 'elite'.
It’s never a pretty sight when the Sun – that mouthpiece of bosses and the right – claims to be a champion of working-class people.
So it’s particularly galling to see today’s editorial blasting Labour:
“Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour is now run by and for the middle class.
“The vast majority of its members play-acting as class warriors are well-heeled yuppies.”
This is, of course, billionaire Murdoch’s paper – one which backed the Tories at the last election.
So let’s have a look at the new intake of MPs – those who actually hold the reigns, who can trigger a leadership contest, and who vote on our laws – and put the Sun’s ‘toff’ claim to the test.
New research from the Sutton Trust reveals the educational background of all the 2017 intake of MPs.
Guess who are privately educated? That’s right. Nearly half of all Tory MPs are privately educated – compared to just 15% of Labour MPs:
Labour’s Richard Burgon MP was among the first to point out the sheer hypocrisy of a Tory-backing rag claiming Labour are run by an elite.
Untrue & hypocritical from The Sun. Those who own/run Sun are not working class. They put on an act whilst opposing their readers’ interests pic.twitter.com/9UaEBmgFK6
— Richard Burgon MP (@RichardBurgon) July 28, 2017
And Tory members themselves? No working-class heroes. Professor Tim Bale, who researches political parties, told the FT last year:
“We know more than three-quarters are middle or upper class, ABC1 in social status…
“Seven out of 10 are men and more than half are over 60.”
While Labour are by no means working-class dominated in terms of membership – it’s a long stretch to suggest the Conservatives have a more working class membership.
Just to recap – the Sun is a paper that has: buttered up its readers for NHS privatisation, demanded employers and the government ‘crush’ striking workers, been effectively banned in Liverpool because of its Hillsborough coverage – and consistently supported Tory tax cuts for the rich, amid a million other sins.
All parties need to expand their membership among working-class people. But Labour and the left won’t be taking any lessons from The S*n anytime soon.
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5 Responses to “Sun claims Labour is run by ‘toffs’ – yet half of Tory MPs are privately educated”
Will
Murdoch is a truly nauseating character and total hypocrit too. He has made his living out of spreading misinformation and lies plus he is a power grabbing control freak of the worst kind. Too much is nowhere near enough for his kind.
Tony
I wish I could have seen Murdoch’s face when that exit poll came out!
It was great to see the look on Mushroom Cloud May’s face when she arrived at her count (and for some considerable time afterwards).
Alasdair Macdonald
With regard to educational background, it has to be borne in mind that the category ‘selective’ is not, as some wrongly infer, a watered-down version of ‘independent’.
For people, such as I, who entered secondary education prior to the 1970s, there were almost no comprehensive schools. The system was selective. Many MPs in their 60s, who attended ‘selective’ schools, such as ‘grammar schools’, would have attended comprehensives had these been in existence. To accuse such MPs of hypocrisy is a slander.
While the Tories undoubtedly contain a greater proportion of ‘toffs’ than any other party, the social background of the great majority of MPs of all parties is pretty similar. Undoubtedly, there has been a significant reduction in the proportion of MPs from a ‘working class’ background.
Because of the educational reforms, particularly the ending of most selection and the adoption of comprehensive schools, most working class people became better educated. In the post war period, there was substantial ‘social mobility’, because the expanding economy created ‘room at the top’ and at other levels’, too, for the children of the ‘working class’ to occupy.
I came from a working class background and, in my working life, reached a senior managerial position in a professional occupation. Many from the same densely populated, poorly housed district achieved similar status. However, most of us retained socialist/liberal values and continued to seek to implement them in our work.
The Sun’s leader is, as always, venal mendacity.
(PS while many of us did well, the life expectancy of people from our area remained lower than the population average. Many died in childhood and early adulthood, and most, like my father-in-law, did not even draw their pension or only received it for a year or so. Even for those of us who have been ‘socially mobile’ the life expectancy is less than for those of similar social status, from more affluent childhood backgrounds. I actually receive an enhanced annuity because I was born in an industrialised working class district of Glasgow – I am gambling my life against actuaries!!)
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While Labour are by no means working-class dominated in terms of membership – it’s a long stretch to suggest the Conservatives have a more working class membership.
The Sun did not say that the Tories have more working class members than Labour. It said that Labour was dominated by middle-class members. Which you have just admitted is true.
Patrick Newman
Proof that Murdoch invented fake news although some might use a smaller word to describe it.