Class Consciousness

The issue of class is always the elephant in the room for most of the media. Addressing it is often easier said than done. How not to do it is exemplified by Labour's crass campaign in the Crewe & Nantwich by-election; you don't highlight an opponent's privileged background while penalising your own working class supporters (the 10p tax debacle).
How to do it in a timely & effective manner has been shown by Paul Weller. Clearly aghast that David Cameron chose "Eton Rifles" as one of his Desert Island Discs, Weller has openly wondered if Cameron actually knows the lyrics. For the record, Weller wrote the song after seeing Eton schoolboys jeering Right to Work marchers in the late 70s as they passed through Windsor on the Liverpool to London walk.
Speaking to the New Statesman (http://www.newstatesman.com/200805150029 ) last week, Weller revealed that Cameron's apparent liking of the song has made him perform it again, hoping that the Eton-educated Tory leader finally gets it. Weller told the NS: "I thought I'd never play that song again, but it's just as powerful now, just as relevant, as it was in 1979."
True to his word, Weller has now resurrected one of the most incendiary pop songs ever: http://youtube.com/watch?v=n6qgPsIzsCg .