Oddly enough, “stop running down the public services in which they work and stop hateful misinformation campaigns against them just for doing their jobs” does not feature as a proposed solution. - ThreadSky

barristersecret.bsky.social • 82 days ago

Oddly enough, “stop running down the public services in which they work and stop hateful misinformation campaigns against them just for doing their jobs” does not feature as a proposed solution.

Reposted from The Guardian

We Tories have lost the professional classes to Labour. Here’s how to win them back | Paul Goodman

Comments

triassic.bsky.social•78 days ago

In other news - The Government would like the voluntary sector to step in and fill the gaps. However, the voluntary sector cant recruit volunteers, as everyone is busy “just surviving”, and have nothing more to give, especially the little precious free time they have left.

campo.bsky.social•82 days ago

They blamed the public for every one of their shortfalls, even during the pandemic it was the public that was at fault for the government mismanagement and general shithousery.

valheru.bsky.social•82 days ago

Funnily enough talking shit about people and blaming them for your own political inadequacy didn't endear them to the party.... Quelle surprise!

litterygeniarse.bsky.social•82 days ago

I don't suppose it discusses rejecting fascism either.

litterygeniarse.bsky.social•82 days ago

A Guardian article beginning "We Tories..." says a lot about the state of the Guardian.

Did they ever admit the AS smears on Corbyn were bullshit?
@theguardian.com

oldmandoc.bsky.social•82 days ago

It's crazy how much they've alienated all these groups.
Go back 14 years and there would be a fairy sizeable group of doctors who would label themselves as conservative voters.
Remember in 2016 junior doctors strike had several docs being anti strike.
Now I don't know any who vote Tory

johnhollandoaktree.bsky.social•82 days ago

14 years ago we were faced with an unpopular Labour govt running out of time and a possible new face of the Tory party. How did those doctors vote in 2005 when faced with Howard?

misterboote.bsky.social•81 days ago

So they demonised anyone educated & progressive as liberal elite & woke or worse yet an expert. Then they push a disastrous Brexit on us backed by billionaires. They will double down on anti woke rhetoric at next GE. Competing with Reform for precludes attracting the professional class.

gautampk.com•82 days ago

One thing you never see people talk about on this point is the trade off between autonomy and personal responsibility. Professional are personally accountable for their actions, even when taken on behalf of a firm or organisation

gautampk.com•82 days ago

This is obviously true for regulated professions where you can be struck off or disbarred, but it is also true for unregulated ones like journalism. In return for that risk, they expect autonomy in making decisions. Otherwise you’re just the fall guy for a decision that was out of your control

gautampk.com•82 days ago

Also Piketty’s merchant right vs “brahmin” left is the only good comprehensive analysis of this topic and any article on it which doesn’t mention it is probably not very good (imo)

bigtruth.bsky.social•82 days ago

Tories, Labour, both the same now. The only differences, the Tories feel they are entitled to govern - this comes out in rhetoric & hate. Labour feel they won something - so for them it's all about holding on with spin & not being the bad headline of the week. Neither really have ideas or ideals.

benjamin-knight.com•82 days ago

I haven't looked but is it something about immigration and 'wokeness'?
Two things that only loons have in their top 5 serious issues facing the country.

fernmonkey.bsky.social•82 days ago

Oddly enough, it's about paying public sector workers more.

benjamin-knight.com•82 days ago

Well, that won't catch on!

fernmonkey.bsky.social•82 days ago

I'm muttering "Scapegoats, Brexit, had enough of experts" over and over here in the corner.

allankitt.bsky.social•81 days ago

So in essence " we have divided to rule; but divided in the wrong place" ...it might just have occurred to them that the British " professional people" mostly had some pretty decent values and were now a lot more diverse than they realised! It's all about using people to get and keep what they want!

jahiggins.bsky.social•82 days ago

It was the professional classes, particularly Barristers, joining the party in the 80s that have made it what it is today. As bad as that.

danimadu.bsky.social•82 days ago

The whole text can be summarised as "How did we get this low in only gathering support from the common, uneducated people, and lost the most acceptable better qualified ones, who shifted to the evil left?"

egg1st.bsky.social•82 days ago

It was a bold strategy

johnhollandoaktree.bsky.social•82 days ago

It's the late 80s, I'm in the early stages of a career in accountancy in the private sector, I've scraped up enough to buy a house. The government controls the interest rate and set taxes. At this point I realise that they are not for those who aspire, they are for those that already have wealth

johnhollandoaktree.bsky.social•82 days ago

The Tory party has never been there for me. Their regular defeats among young voters, professional voters and graduate voters is not a surprise. Their response is to reduce the number of graduates who are not from the already wealthy

johnhollandoaktree.bsky.social•82 days ago

My A level class mates, many of whom were Tory in 1983 and went into various professions have all shifted left to a varying degree since then. If the Tories want to win us back they need to look to John Major and actually follow his ideas of a meritocracy. It's probably too late

aozora-aonami.bsky.social•82 days ago

With Badenoch over in the USA sucking up to the Trump cult and sprouting Truss level gibberish about the Tories having been too left wing and Labour being communists who have tricked their way not power, I think that boat sailed a long term me ago.

johnhollandoaktree.bsky.social•81 days ago

Yes it was a very big if. The boat finally sailed in 2019 when when a large number of Tory MPs were deselected. I do try to see where they've gone

chris-denham.bsky.social•82 days ago

He also doesn’t mention Brexit, oddly, given the clear age split there.
Driving through a so-far irreversible policy that only one age cohort backed - a cohort which has shrunk ever since - was a wildly silly thing to do and has cursed the party ever since.

johnhollandoaktree.bsky.social•82 days ago

A policy voted for by 3 million people who traditionally never voted. A group of people who were identified by one campaign team. There is much to be uncomfortable about

chris-denham.bsky.social•82 days ago

The Brexit vote can be interpreted in many ways. I just don’t believe that those millions of people were sitting at home thinking their lives would only be better if they could just leave the single market.

johnhollandoaktree.bsky.social•81 days ago

There are 2 possibilities, the legal one is that the Leave campaign managed to get these people to change habits and vote. I'm not 100% sure whether that is what happened

legalbeagle1978.bsky.social•81 days ago

Tories brought in ‘we’ve had enough of experts’ and are playing into populist, racist, anti immigrant and anti intellectual policies/comments repeatedly on things like Brexit and Covid. While messaging that too many people go to university getting pointless degrees. Maybe people just don’t like that

richardbarge.bsky.social•82 days ago

They’ve realised that they can win elections and referenda with simple slogans for complex problems whilst amping up the prejudice, division and hate to disguise the failure. Anyone with an education can sniff out the redundancy of their ideas and it’s corrosive effect on the society we inhabit

sueuropean.bsky.social•81 days ago

Completely ignores the fact that the tories had demonstrated their total incompetence, and that people couldn't bear any more of their lying and law breaking.

alannfylde.bsky.social•82 days ago

'Enemies of the people' get a mention?

mcgrathauthor.bsky.social•82 days ago

I only yesterday learnt about this and wonder if you have a view … were there any justifiable reasons outside of treating himself to a perk?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-65037136.amp

jphendo.bsky.social•82 days ago

That would involve the Tories admitting they spent 14yrs screwing up all those things and using professionals as scapegoats for their politicians' fuckups. Of course, they won't do that because their new leader boasts she never apologises because she doesn't think she makes mistakes.

hodgy747.bsky.social•82 days ago

Well, he is a Tory.

southsaxon.bsky.social•56 days ago

You Tories have lost EVERYBODY. Perhaps try to make people’s lives BETTER rather than worse, or is that too woke for you? Twats.

ebullienteddie.bsky.social•82 days ago

The way the Tories speak about losing the votes of people in cities, in professional work or generally anyone under the age of 60 is like it's happened accidentally because they've taken their minds off the ball.

The 8 years of constant and deliberate vitriol seem to have gone completely unnoticed.

aozora-aonami.bsky.social•82 days ago

The truth is they feel entitled to these votes, like they feel entitled to remain in power no matter how incompetent they are.

nanny-ogg.bsky.social•82 days ago

The rot set in much longer than 8 years ago! I started working in social care in the 1980s, and local government were routinely underfunding public services all over the country, regardless of what political party was in power at the time.

johnhollandoaktree.bsky.social•82 days ago

I agree but I'd add that although the public sector bore the brunt, those of us in the private sector who didn't come from privileged backgrounds were also hit by them in the 80s. The last 8 years have merely made things far starker

dickp.bsky.social•82 days ago

Gratifying to see this muppet pinpoint 'bigger pay rises' as the main, if not sole, motivation for professionals' voting. It confirms that the Tories have no clue what professionalism or vocation xare, and that their loss of the educated vote is pretty much baked in.

johnhollandoaktree.bsky.social•82 days ago

I would imagine that in the 1960s the professional class came from families in the professional class. It has changed since then but they never noticed. What makes us tick, our values are different to then

dickp.bsky.social•82 days ago

'Our' values haven't changed much. But the Conservatives abandoned them.

johnhollandoaktree.bsky.social•81 days ago

I meant to say theirs rather than then but yes your point is another fact

andy-1967.bsky.social•81 days ago

This is the point they’ve missed completely, the Tories abandoned all pretence at actually having any values. Everything became about squeezing the last penny out of the system for themselves and their cronies. Our services suffered and still suffer.

dickp.bsky.social•82 days ago

Partly this. But mainly that professionals have always made their support of the status quo contingent on being part of the status quo, and not 'enemies of the people'. The Tories were hijacked by oligarchs and barrow boys, who basically don't give a fuck about anyone but themselves.

freedomforall.net•82 days ago

The Tories seem quite determined to prove their irrelevance.

debatingroom.bsky.social•82 days ago

This is hilarious.

First Labour pander to Red Wall working class people lost to Boris Johnson.

Now the Conservatives have realised that they've lost the professional classes to Labour because of Boris Johnson.

ericthehamster.bsky.social•82 days ago

I'm a lawyer, and I have never voted Tory, even when they were "normal". Your assessment is spot on

alnew.bsky.social•82 days ago

The problem with pesky students is that they are bright enough to notice when their futures are being stolen.

johnhollandoaktree.bsky.social•82 days ago

So the idea is to discourage the young from going to university except for their children of course

nanny-ogg.bsky.social•82 days ago

It'd be nice if society cared about social care all the time, but they only care when they're directly affected by it, and that soon turns to indifference.

Threaten to close a library and people are up in arms. Close a care/nursing home, scrap a support service, and hardly anyone bats an eyelid ☹️

andrewparker.bsky.social•82 days ago

I love that the best he can say for Conservative success in education is “well the scores didn’t go down”.

Does it count as damning with faint praise if it’s meant entirely earnestly?

andydrummond.bsky.social•82 days ago

I may be misremembering, but didn’t Gove’s move away from continuous assessment backfire during the pandemic?

andrewparker.bsky.social•82 days ago

Oh, I sincerely know nothing about U.K. education policy! It was just very amusing to see someone try to rest on the laurels of “didn’t make it worse”

kunikos.bsky.social•81 days ago

How about swearing allegiance to the truth and ceasing to regard voters as your possessions. Decent policies to benefit the less fortunate and behaving properly in parliament would regain some dignity.

geraldine90.bsky.social•80 days ago

But I don't see the Tories even in opposition not doing this. They only seem to have one way of thinking which is what would reform do. If Tom Tugendhat hadn't been such a weekling & gone back on his one nation Toryism he could have been good as leader detoxifying politics. I say this as pro labour

frankkerr.bsky.social•82 days ago

This also accounts for why the Labour Party has moved so markedly to the right. Once the party of the working class, and represented in parliament by working class people, it is now owned by the cosy middle class.

philridal.bsky.social•82 days ago

If they tacked back to the centre, cleaned up their act, embraced the EU and stopped chasing the Reform vote they might get more votes from professionals.

johnhollandoaktree.bsky.social•82 days ago

Looking back at the leaders in my lifetime, only Major comes over as having the right idea and that was only after bringing Clarke as his right hand man. Even then he was undermined but they need his broad policies and let their right wingers flee to Reform, then they could attract LD voters

nadinebm.bsky.social•82 days ago

Also fails to mention Brexit at all. There are loads of people who will never forgive them

dominiccampbell.bsky.social•81 days ago

Seems Labour more likely to follow their advice rather than vice versa

littlemavis.bsky.social•82 days ago

It's telling that they seem to think it's about pay

johnhollandoaktree.bsky.social•82 days ago

If it's financial then it would be more about cost of living or cost of tuition rather than pay. I did notice that the 1986 tax cuts which caused the Balance of Payments crisis also caused the higher interest rates that I paid but it was deeper than the money, it was their priorities that I noticed

laurahird.bsky.social•82 days ago

Funny how the glaringly obvious is missed.

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