I’m sorry, Steve, but I think you misunderstood me (either that or I did not make my point too well, which is probably more likely).
I maintain my remark that the epithet “working class” is misused. If we must classify people then of course we need “working” people. We need plumbers, electricians, hairdressers, labourers and the like to take on the many jobs that make civilised life that much more pleasant. People doing these jobs (which most of them manage to learn to do without the benefit of a university education) work hard and should be proud of themselves – every bit as proud as people involved in the “professions”. Far from being a necessary evil they are a very necessary benefit – far more necessary and beneficial than, say, a stockbroker, a “PR” employee or a hedge fund manager.
However, in recent years the term has been used increasingly to describe the millions of “non-working” people who have taken a deliberate choice not to become involved with work at all. In describing themselves as “working class” they seek to give themselves credibility that they do not deserve and in doing so damage the integrity of those who truly are “working class”.
As far as yesterday’s events are concerned those concerned should spend a bit more time studying the government’s proposals and a bit less kicking in people’s windows. It is obvious that the previous government’s higher education strategy is unaffordable and if those who want a degree want it that much then they will have to pay for it. But only when they are earning considerably more than the average wage. So those who get a degree in “Media and Films” and (unsurprisingly) end up serving hamburgers (a useful job but not one that needs a degree, however valueless) will not have to pay, whatever “class” they originate from.