How would you define ‘working people’? You’d think that ‘people who work’ would be a pretty safe bet. But Keir Starmer seems to have a different definition, telling LBC earlier this week that working people are ‘people who earn their living, rely on our services and don’t really have the ability to write a cheque when they get into trouble’. Is this a tacit admission that those who have managed to save could be a target for Labour when it wins power?
‘Working people’ is one of Starmer’s most repeated phrases; he’s made it his own. It is usually said in an appropriately reverent way, with the same head-slightly-bowed tone that vicars use while mentioning the Holy Ghost, or that people on television employ when referring to the Lionesses. It is the nearest the Labour leader gets to a catchphrase, so it’s useful that someone has tried to pin him down on what he actually means when he says it.
As a black hole absorbs all light, Starmer absorbs all interest
It’s interesting to note that ‘working people’ has at some fairly recent point replaced ‘hard-working families’ in the politicians’ lexicon.
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