Labour's Posh Boys (and Girls)

By Mark Wallace
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Back row: David Miliband, Ed Miliband, Ed Balls, Harriet Harman.

Standing in middle: Hillary Benn, Chuka Umunna.

Front row: Fiona McTaggart, Tristram Hunt, Tessa Jowell.

It's become a regular refrain from Labour ranks that the Tories are posh. The infamous Bullingdon photo, which Carla Millar today mimics above, is used as shorthand to pick at the number of privately schooled men and women in the Cabinet and in the Parliamentary Conservative Party.

The failed attempt by Labour to make class an issue in the Crewe and Nantwich by-election, with activists dressed up in top hats and tails, stands out as an example of their enthusiasm for the subject.

44% of Labour MPs have claimed for first class travel in last year, 33% of LibDems and only 16% of Tories

By Tim Montgomerie
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These statistics come from The Sunday Telegraph:

I always travel standard class myself (except for a few £15 weekend upgrades) but I, personally, have no objection to MPs occasionally claiming for first class travel when they're facing long journeys or need to get some work done in more spacious carriages. What I do object to is Labour MPs waging class war against the Conservatives when it is they who most claim for first class rail travel from the taxpayer.