What ex-BBC Allegra Stratton’s new job proves about the ruling class

Revolving door


Support us and go ad-free

The establishment revolving door is turning again. This time it’s former BBC and ITV journalist Allegra Stratton who is benefitting. Stratton, as has been announced, is taking up a new role as spokesperson for number 10.

Stratton’s appointment as press secretary to arguably the most right-wing government in my lifetime (I’m a child of Thatcher, by the way) captures some bleak truths about Britain today. Not least is Stratton’s demonstrable contempt for working-class people. Although that does make her an ideal fit for her job as a Tory spokesperson. And she isn’t the only one.

Poverty porn

Among Stratton’s greatest hits is an interview, which even by the class-baiting, poverty porn adoring standards of the mainstream media, takes the proverbial biscuit.

In the interview with a hard-working single mum named Shanene Thorpe in 2012, then Newsnight reporter Stratton lambasted Thorpe for moving out of her mum’s house, implying that she had somehow become a burden on the state by “choice.”

The video, a masterclass in BBC condescension, has been doing the rounds again following news of the appointment:

The interview was widely panned, not least by Thorpe herself, and nearly thirty thousand disgusted viewers signed a petition demanding an apology.

Stealth Tory

It could be said that Stratton – a product of Oxbridge, naturally – can now at least move from being a stealth Tory to an out-and-out one. But that’s a leap she’s already made. Following stints at the BBC, ITV, and theoretically liberal Guardian, she had already been working for Tory chancellor Rishi Sunak.

With this kind of form, it isn’t hard to see why she got a role briefing her establishment media mates on behalf of Boris Johnson.

The revolving door

Saying that Britain’s ruling class benefits from a revolving door between highly paid roles across business, the press, politics, and beyond is hardly revelatory.

Stratton’s appointment is probably dwarfed by, for example, Cameron-era chancellor George Osborne’s move to the role of editor at the London Evening Standard, or the high profile stint at LBC of broker turned arch-Brexiteer Nigel Farage.

Likewise, former senior military officers have a long history of getting entangled with Britain’s scandalous global arms trade. Some, like former chancellor and current MP Sajid Javid, who recently took up an advisory role at banking giant J.P. Morgan, wear this double-hat without ever leaving politics.

And it’s not just Tories

Nor is this simply a case of card-carrying Conservatives cashing in – centrists aren’t strangers to the revolving door either.

Former deputy Labour leader Tom Watson, an ardent Tory spokesman of sorts in his day, has moved on from politics to advising controversial gambling firm Paddy Power.

Corbyn-era Labour deserter Chuka Umunna slotted into a job at major PR company Edelman since failing at politics. While Angela ‘Funny Tinge‘ Smith can now pursue her passion for privatising H20 as a non-executive director at Portsmouth Water.

But there’s a connection between all these people. It isn’t simply access to a revolving door between highly paid jobs, often as mediators for private capital, the gutter press, arms firms, or Boris Johnson’s latest bumbling scheme. The connection is their demonstrable contempt for working-class people, the institutions they rely on, and the interests of the British public. And it’s why Stratton’s new job says everything you need to know about the state of Britain today.

Featured image via Dan4th Nicholas – Wikimedia

 

Support us and go ad-free

We know everyone is suffering under the Tories - but the Canary is a vital weapon in our fight back, and we need your support

The Canary Workers’ Co-op knows life is hard. The Tories are waging a class war against us we’re all having to fight. But like trade unions and community organising, truly independent working-class media is a vital weapon in our armoury.

The Canary doesn’t have the budget of the corporate media. In fact, our income is over 1,000 times less than the Guardian’s. What we do have is a radical agenda that disrupts power and amplifies marginalised communities. But we can only do this with our readers’ support.

So please, help us continue to spread messages of resistance and hope. Even the smallest donation would mean the world to us.

Support us
  • Show Comments

    2. There are a lot of absolutely brilliant MP’s, there are also a lot of rubbish MP’s, but being an MP has become a kind of apprenticeship for the dream post in the private sector big business corporate world. Can you persuade people to vote for you, *tick* can you convince people you are doing it all for them *tick* can you tell people we are all in in together whilst actually ripping them off and taking away from them to keep for yourself *tick* are you only really interested in yourself and how you can grab more and more *tick* are you only really interested in cold hard cash *tick* can you lie about poverty the NHS and caring for the homeless etc *tick* WELCOME TO THE BUSINESS WORLD MY FIREND PLEASE STEP FORWARD TO YOUR RIGHTFUL PLACE AT THE TROUGH

      Report comment

    Leave a Reply

    Join the conversation

    Please read our comment moderation policy here.