"They" is a bad word in Britain



The Conservatives were under fire last night over a ‘condescending’ pitch for the working class vote - after launching an Internet advert which highlighted Budget cuts to beer and bingo duty.

Conservative Party chairman Grant Shapps took to Twitter last night to launch an advert devised by Tory HQ to highlight Budget measures supposedly aimed at ‘hardworking people’.

The advert - which was immediately dubbed a ‘PR disaster’ - read: ‘Bingo! Cutting the bingo tax and beer duty to help hardworking people do more of the things they enjoy.’

Mr Shapps urged Conservative supporters to ‘spread the word’.

But the advert was immediately criticised for its patronising tone by both political opponents and Twitter users and risked underminging George Osborne’s carefully crafted pitch to win over the skilled manual workers who backed Margaret Thatcher in their droves.

Last night Stewart Wood, a senior aide to Labour leader Ed Miliband, described the advert as ‘ill-conceived’ and ‘condescending’.  He said: ‘Of all the ill-conceived aspects of this Tory ad, it’s the condescending use of the word “they” that grates the most.’

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That certainly was a blunder.  An us and them mentality is chronic in Britain but to exhibit it is undoubtedly bad manners.