In a modern society there can be no room for stirers of intolerance or injustice

Alex Smith

Activities Abroad

By Alex Smith

Let’s face it, in our generally tolerant society there is no demographic group subject to such open, snarling prejudice and condescension as frequently as our urban working class.

It’s become accepted, almost encouraged in the pages of the Mail and the Express, to belittle people as chavs, to deride council estates as breeding grounds for idleness, to judge welfare claimants not on their specific circumstances of sincere requirement but on the prejudice that some people are just pre-programmed to live entirely lazy lives, supported by the state.

In this climate, it should come as no surprise that one travel company, Activities Abroad, has been marketing its holidays as ‘chav-free’ breaks, on which you’re more likely to socialise with a ‘Charlie or Charlotte’ than you are with a ‘Chantelle or Shannon’.

And it should come as even less of a shock that Alistair McLean, the founder of the firm, has this week defended his actions, saying ‘the middle classes work hard to make a decent home and life for our families…unfortunately, everybody else in our society seems to take from us’ despite his website tagline that says ‘be altruistic’.

Imagine if such stereotyping were applied to women or black people, to the disabled or to gays. The media would jump on the case, there would be public uproar, and the Association of British Travel Agents would demand an apology from McLean.

What some people seem to forget is that there are serious repercussions to such linguistic slurs – every time another corporate leader is non-inclusive, or anyone for that matter, it has serious consequences for our social cohesion and is an affront to our sense of fairness.

So while passionate grievences should be aired and voiced in a tolerant society, and while there may be a deficit of aspiration at times in Britain that we could all do more to improve, there can be no room for the sort of incendiary prejudice that stirs up intolerance and injustice, and there can be no room for a section of our media that encourages it.

Frankly, it’s as bad as racism.

More from LabourList

DONATE HERE

We provide our content free, but providing daily Labour news, comment and analysis costs money. Small monthly donations from readers like you keep us going. To those already donating: thank you.

If you can afford it, can you join our supporters giving £10 a month?

And if you’re not already reading the best daily round-up of Labour news, analysis and comment…

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR DAILY EMAIL