Most white working class Britons feel nobody speaks for people like them, according to a BBC survey whose results are being shown in a programme tonight. For instance, few of them are MPs and other national leaders.
Some 58 per cent said they felt unrepresented compared with 46 per cent of white middle class respondents to a Newsnight poll.
White working classes were also negative about the past decade with 62 per cent saying life had generally become worse in the UK. And most of them thought immigration to Britain of foreigners was a bad thing and they felt threatened by it.
In response to BBC Two's White Season, a special Newsnight today will feature full poll results and debate. And in most areas covered by the survey the white working classes are more pessimistic about the future and more negative about the last decade in Britain than white middle class people.
Of the white working class people questioned 71 per cent believe crime has got worse over the last decade, compared with 66 per cent of middle class white people.
On housing, 80 per cent of the white working classes say that people like them can no longer afford to buy homes in the area they live. A smaller majority - 68 per cent - of middle class people believed they had been priced out of the local housing market.
Overall 62 per cent of the white working classes believe that life in Britain has generally got worse over the last decade compared with 51 per cent of middle class white people. When asked whether they thought immigration into Britain, on the whole, was a good or bad thing for the country the survey suggests that opinion was divided between people from different social groups.
Some 52 per cent of the white working class people questioned thought immigration was a bad thing (42 per cent thought it was a good thing), while just 33 per cent of white middle class people thought it bad (62 per cent thought it a good thing).
When asked whether they thought new immigrants had put their jobs at risk the survey suggests that more than twice as many white working class people (27 per cent) compared with middle class (13 per cent) people thought it had.
A majority of white working class Britons feel nobody speaks for people like them, a BBC survey has suggested. Some 58 per cent said they felt unrepresented compared with 46 per cent of white middle class respondents to a Newsnight poll.
White working classes were also negative about the past decade with 62 per cent saying life had generally become worse in the UK.
In most areas covered by the survey the white working classes are more pessimistic about the future and more negative about the last decade in Britain than white middle class people. Of the white working class people questioned 71 per cent believe crime has got worse over the last decade, compared with 66 per cent of middle class white people.
On housing, 80 per cent of the white working classes say that people like them can no longer afford to buy homes in the area they live. A smaller majority - 68 per cent - of middle class people believed they had been priced out of the local housing market.
Overall 62 per cent of the white working classes believe that life in Britain has generally got worse over the last decade compared with 51 per cent of middle class white people. When asked whether they thought immigration into Britain, on the whole, was a good or bad thing for the country the survey suggests that opinion was divided between people from different social groups.
Some 52 per cent of the white working class people questioned thought immigration was a bad thing (42 per cent thought it was a good thing), while just 33 per cent of white middle class people thought it bad (62 per cent thought it a good thing).
When asked whether they thought new immigrants had put their jobs at risk the survey suggests that more than twice as many white working class people (27 per cent) compared with middle class (13 per cent) people thought it had.
* Populus interviewed a random sample of 1,012 white British adults aged 18+ by telephone between 29th February and 2nd March 2008.
Some 58 per cent said they felt unrepresented compared with 46 per cent of white middle class respondents to a Newsnight poll.
White working classes were also negative about the past decade with 62 per cent saying life had generally become worse in the UK. And most of them thought immigration to Britain of foreigners was a bad thing and they felt threatened by it.
In response to BBC Two's White Season, a special Newsnight today will feature full poll results and debate. And in most areas covered by the survey the white working classes are more pessimistic about the future and more negative about the last decade in Britain than white middle class people.
Of the white working class people questioned 71 per cent believe crime has got worse over the last decade, compared with 66 per cent of middle class white people.
On housing, 80 per cent of the white working classes say that people like them can no longer afford to buy homes in the area they live. A smaller majority - 68 per cent - of middle class people believed they had been priced out of the local housing market.
Overall 62 per cent of the white working classes believe that life in Britain has generally got worse over the last decade compared with 51 per cent of middle class white people. When asked whether they thought immigration into Britain, on the whole, was a good or bad thing for the country the survey suggests that opinion was divided between people from different social groups.
Some 52 per cent of the white working class people questioned thought immigration was a bad thing (42 per cent thought it was a good thing), while just 33 per cent of white middle class people thought it bad (62 per cent thought it a good thing).
When asked whether they thought new immigrants had put their jobs at risk the survey suggests that more than twice as many white working class people (27 per cent) compared with middle class (13 per cent) people thought it had.
A majority of white working class Britons feel nobody speaks for people like them, a BBC survey has suggested. Some 58 per cent said they felt unrepresented compared with 46 per cent of white middle class respondents to a Newsnight poll.
White working classes were also negative about the past decade with 62 per cent saying life had generally become worse in the UK.
In most areas covered by the survey the white working classes are more pessimistic about the future and more negative about the last decade in Britain than white middle class people. Of the white working class people questioned 71 per cent believe crime has got worse over the last decade, compared with 66 per cent of middle class white people.
On housing, 80 per cent of the white working classes say that people like them can no longer afford to buy homes in the area they live. A smaller majority - 68 per cent - of middle class people believed they had been priced out of the local housing market.
Overall 62 per cent of the white working classes believe that life in Britain has generally got worse over the last decade compared with 51 per cent of middle class white people. When asked whether they thought immigration into Britain, on the whole, was a good or bad thing for the country the survey suggests that opinion was divided between people from different social groups.
Some 52 per cent of the white working class people questioned thought immigration was a bad thing (42 per cent thought it was a good thing), while just 33 per cent of white middle class people thought it bad (62 per cent thought it a good thing).
When asked whether they thought new immigrants had put their jobs at risk the survey suggests that more than twice as many white working class people (27 per cent) compared with middle class (13 per cent) people thought it had.
* Populus interviewed a random sample of 1,012 white British adults aged 18+ by telephone between 29th February and 2nd March 2008.
Thomas L. Blair is a sociologist and political blogger on the Chronicleworld 'for creative renewal in Black Britain and Afro-Europe'. His work is honoured in the British Library's archive of "social, historic and culturally significant web-based material from the UK domain". He won top prize in the blogging competition on The-Latest.
Sumantra Maitra is a freelance journalist from Mumbai, India. He is a correspondent for All Sports magazine, and a foreign affairs blogger for the Washington Examiner. He has written articles for news website Merinews.com and other regional publications. Sumantra runs a blog at DailyWorldWatch.wordpress.com. He provided exclusive eyewitness reports for The-Latest on the Mumbai bombings of 2008.
Brian Usher is photography consultant for The-Latest.Com. He is a highly experienced editorial and commercial photographer whose work has been published throughout the world, appearing in many well known magazines and newspapers. Brian has featured in several books and has been a writer for the Royal Photographic Society magazine.
Heidi Kingstone has spent time in Afghanistan reporting for a number of publications. Her work has appeared in the Financial Times, The Spectator, The Sunday Times and other international journals. She has also reported from places like Iraq, Rwanda, Lebanon, Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Kenya. Heidi is The-Latest's Editor at large.
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