Britain did not simply leave its working class behind. Sociologist Lisa McKenzie and historian and former coal miner Keith Gildart argue that political and economic decisions deliberately dismantled the jobs, institutions, culture and communities that once gave working-class life security, identity and meaning.
They trace the destruction of Britain’s industrial economy, the decline of trade unions, Labour’s abandonment of its traditional voters and the disappearance of secure work, affordable housing and genuine social mobility. They also examine immigration and low wages, class prejudice, education, the rise of Reform and why so many people no longer believe Westminster represents them.
I question Lisa and Keith on private education, workers’ rights, taxation, inequality and whether any political party can reverse Britain’s decline. It leads to the central question of the episode: who is Britain actually for now?
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TIMESTAMPS
00:00:00 - Who Is Britain For Now?
00:00:39 - What Is the Working Class Today?
00:07:12 - Britain Deliberately Dismantled Its Working Class
00:09:42 - The End of Britain’s Industrial Economy
00:12:43 - Keith’s Life as a Coal Miner
00:16:11 - What Happens When a Pit Town Dies?
00:19:51 - The Loss of Working-Class Identity
00:23:20 - Why Labour Stopped Saying “Working Class”
00:24:20 - Class Is About More Than Income
00:28:12 - Education, Opportunity and the Working Class
00:34:13 - The Left Has Forgotten Its Purpose
00:38:16 - Has Britain Created a Dependency Class?
00:46:33 - What Working-Class Teenagers Want
00:56:37 - Britain’s Deep Class Prejudice
01:01:18 - Immigration, Low Wages and the Working Class
01:17:44 - Why Working-Class Voters Moved to Reform
01:34:30 - Britain’s Crisis of Social Democracy
01:41:00 - The Working and Middle Classes Are Being Destroyed
01:59:37 - Who Is Britain Really For?
02:05:08 - What Is Britain’s Recovery Story?
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CONTACT PETE
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CONNECT WITH LISA MCKENZIE
› University of Bedfordshire – https://www.beds.ac.uk/howtoapply/departments/school-of-society-community-and-health/staff/lisa-mckenzie/
› Research Portal – https://researchportal.beds.ac.uk/en/persons/lisa-mckenzie/
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CONNECT WITH KEITH GILDART
› University of Wolverhampton – https://researchers.wlv.ac.uk/Keith.Gildart
› Keeping The Faith – https://manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9780719097102/
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FILMED BY CURTIS TAYLOR
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EDITED BY CONOR MCCORMACK
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