“Working people.”
It’s a fairly broad phrase that’s been banded around a lot this week in light of the budget.
Labour actually mentioned the term working people 21 times in their manifesto, so you’d think they would have a pretty concrete idea of who they have in their mind’s eye when pushed on their definition.
But yesterday when asked by Sky News whether anyone whose income derived from assets, such as shares or property, could be considered a working person, Sir Keir Starmer said: “Well, they wouldn’t come within my definition.”
At a market in Hitchin, Hertfordshire some market traders have been working since 6am and all of them have no issues describing how they believe they are working people.
“I would describe myself as working people, but everybody works in different ways,” one man says.
He admits he has some shares which he describes as insignificant but says he works 14-hour days on a market stall and does not consider those shares capable of rendering him ineligible to fit Sir Keir’s description.
“If you’ve worked all your life and you’ve invested in your future, why shouldn’t you be allowed to keep it,” he says.
Watching the clip of the prime minister on her phone, a woman nods in agreement with Keir Starmer on most of his descriptions, but she’s confused at why shares and property are a problem.
She says she would like to have a clearer definition from him.
“If they’ve worked for it all their life then that’s fine, if they’ve had it handed down to them, generation after generation, I think that’s a completely different thing,” she says.
Another man says he disagrees with Sir Keir’s definition, adding if people are getting money through shares, it is a “bonus” and means you have been “clever with your money”.
A third man at the market tells me the only thing he hears about Sir Keir is that his father was a toolmaker.
“All you hear about is ‘Oh, I’m the son of a toolmaker’, well so am I. I ain’t rich, I’m not a rich man, they’re just not in the real world no more. They’re just so out of touch,” he says.
With the budget in touching distance, this is not just about semantics, this could actually matter.
That’s because Labour said in their manifesto they would not raise taxes for working people and they continue to stick to this ironclad commitment with the budget days away.
Depending on who the government class as working people, it could open the door for potential hikes to capital gains tax, national insurance raised for employers, even potentially inheritance tax.
But we will not really know until Chancellor Rachel Reeves reads out her budget next week.
