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And I always wondered, when I went out with middle class people, how they managed to treat the city like a playground rather than an assault course. And that's why. Because they grew up somewhere they didn't have to be ready to fight at a moment's notice.
This is something of a generalisation. I’m middle class and require the exact same amount of notice for a fight. ‘One moment while I remove my GMT Master II.’
Hefty
ReekBlefs
Feels like the opposite to me. It seemed to me to be firmly aimed at those people who live in violent, rundown, crime-ridden areas, and feel - correctly - as though the govt doesn't give a monkeys about them:
In his speech, Starmer said it was “working people who pay the heaviest price” when antisocial behaviour was rife and there was complacency from the government because “their kids don’t go to the same schools, nobody fly-tips on their streets. The threat of violence doesn’t stalk their communities.”
I'm lucky enough to live in quite a nice area now (Leyton) but I grew up in Dagenham, and as a teenager I felt what it was like to grow up where random and severe violence were a daily risk. And I became what they call 'hypervigilant', where you're so on edge for risk that it takes over your life. Of course I didn't know it then, we just thought it was being streetwise. But that's what it was.
And I always wondered, when I went out with middle class people, how they managed to treat the city like a playground rather than an assault course. And that's why. Because they grew up somewhere they didn't have to be ready to fight at a moment's notice.
And back in the days that was a weird experience. But now it's much more common for working people.
The Tories have no idea how bad things are. Starmer is right to highlight it.