It’s funny how the new left’s rule against speaking on behalf of groups to which you do not belong never applies to class. If a white man ventures his thoughts on the best way forward for Britain’s black community, he’ll suffer social death by a thousand tweets. Woe betide any bloke who holds forth on women’s issues. ‘Dude, let women speak for themselves,’ people will chide. Yet when it comes to the needs of working-class communities, everyone gets to have a say.
So last week, Newsnight featured a discussion about the crisis of working-class representation in the media between Owen Jones of the Guardian and Sarah Baxter of the Sunday Times. Newsnight, come on: you couldn’t find a single journalist from a working-class background? Or maybe you were worried they would spill their flasks of PG Tips on the Beeb’s settees. To have Jones explain — class-splain? — what must be done to help working-class writers is like inviting David Starkey to talk about how hard it is to be a Muslim in 21st-century Britain.
As a journalist who comes from the working classes, I have found the past week’s discussion about social class and the media incredibly frustrating. It is all a spin-off from Jeremy Corbyn’s speech at the Edinburgh television festival. Much of Corbyn’s speech felt chilling, a reminder of how much this old Labourite left despises the press — primarily because these leftists hold the press responsible for warping what they view as the putty-like brains of dim, poor Brits and making them do unspeakable things like vote for Margaret Thatcher or revolt against the EU.
Corbyn’s proposal to tax big-tech firms so that the government — his future government — might fund ‘independent’ public-interest journalism was a testament to his disdain for press freedom.

Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in