# #195 - Lisa McKenzie & Keith Gildart - Who Is Britain For? The Destruction of the Working Class

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-peter-mccormack-show-525419/195-lisa-mckenzie-keith-gildart-who-is-britain-for-the-destruction-of-the-working-class
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-peter-mccormack-show-525419/195-lisa-mckenzie-keith-gildart-who-is-britain-for-the-destruction-of-the-working-class.md
Podcast: [The Peter McCormack Show](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-peter-mccormack-show-525419)
Published: 2026-07-25T17:08:51+00:00
Episode link: https://shows.acast.com/the-peter-mccormack-show/episodes/195-lisa-mckenzie-keith-gildart-who-is-britain-for-the-destr
Audio file: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/69d4f193b76468caacc5068f/e/6a64e3e88c6152b11ffce2f2/media.mp3
Processing state: not_requested
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-peter-mccormack-show-525419/episodes/195-lisa-mckenzie-keith-gildart-who-is-britain-for-the-destruction-of-the-working-class
Duration seconds: 8016

## Resource

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? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 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…

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