The Tories physically attacked working class communities and caused a quarter of a century of impoverishment. The Labour Party has introduced over 3000 new crimes since 1997 and has whittled away our hard-won liberties – such as Habeas corpus, the right not to be tortured, etc, etc, and even, with their supposed solutions to anti-social behaviour, the right to a trial by a jury of our peers – to a higher degree than any other peacetime government. ALL mainstream political parties follow the same socially and environmentally destructive Neoliberal (and highly fascistic) economic trajectory that has been responsible for so much suffering in working class communities. As The RED FACIST FRONT OF THE SOCLIST WORKERS PARTY have just shouted slogan fucking slogan told us to vote Labour?

Monday 7 12 09 The Independent announced the findings of research produced by accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers which suggest that the rich and the middle class are facing the biggest squeeze on their living standards in decades. Today the same paper has reported that a million public sector jobs , including frontline roles in the NHS and the police, may have to be axed if the Government is to cut its deficit. And as our good friend Mr Bone has pointed out; “A poll in today’s guardian shows over 50% of people to believe class is a defining issue in Britain.”

The Barnsdale Brigade (and pretty much everyone we know) are in the low income bracket so we cannot genuinely say that we overly concerned about the fortunes of Middle England (let’s face it, they never showed any concern for us). But this is not the time to say ‘I told you so!’*

In the coming months and years The Class War will heat up as the problems of impoverishment become more immediate to more people (of all classes). People who were once comfortable with their lot will begin to question the legitimacy of one of the most class divided societies on the planet. There will be no better opportunity to galvanise our ongoing campaign against classism and build a political movement that truly represents the interests of the working class.

Our attempts to organise against classism failed partly due to funding, but also because it is a problem that is largely invisible to those who do not suffer it’s blows. As we said on the Action Against Classism website…

Economic inequality in the UK is at the highest it has been since records began in 1961. A child’s social class background at birth is still the best indicator of how well he or she will do in school and later on in life. The lower your socio-economic position the greater your risk of low birth-weight, infections, cancer, coronary heart disease, respiratory disease, stroke, accidents, nervous and mental illnesses – in other words, class kills!

Class remains as important an issue as climate (in fact the climate issue will not be solved until class is taken into consideration), but it has been almost universally ignored for over 20 years thanks to the politician’s and the media’s pretence that we’re somehow all middle class now. But that time has passed, the veneer is cracking – it’s time to organise! Any one for a Greek Riot?