Author Archives: Warwick Danks

We need to shift from a class identity debate to a consensus around our core values


Embed from Getty Images

With the dust still settling from the December 2019 General Election, it is necessarily a time for the Liberal Democrats to regroup, refocus and plan for the coming years.

One question which I hear being asked is how the Party can appeal to working-class voters, as part of a strategy to make it more inclusive, representative and, of course, electable. However I believe we need to first take a step back and ask whether the underlying assumption here is valid in 21st Century Britain and, moreover, is it liberal?

With our political rivals in opposition currently locked in heated internal argument as to which of their potential leaders is authentically working-class, it is worth exploring just what that means. Is one born working-class, or indeed middle-class, or does one somehow acquire the designation and accompanying self-identity during one’s lifetime?

Posted in Op-eds | Tagged and | 16 Comments
Advert

Recent Comments

  • Alan Jelfs
    If we're talking a 25-year timescale than an essential part of that must be reducing the National Dept, currently costing £100billion a year to service. That ...
  • Jason Connor
    In case you haven't heard, there is a cost of living crisis. So very high prices for food, I spent £70 on just a shop for myself the other day and not much for...
  • Jason Connor
    Christine Jardine for next Lib Dem Leader please....
  • Phil Wainewright
    Yes @Tim Rogers of course we need policies that deliver for people now. My point is that, if we don’t put those policies in the context of our longer term goa...
  • Christina Evans
    Very sensible idea, lib dems ,labour and greens form a coalition if we get a hung parliament. Kemi Badenoch has given a nod that the Tories would go in with the...