Skip to main content
Work with the NEU
Tory toff claims he ‘knows what it’s like to be poor’

A PUBLIC SCHOOL educated Tory MP rejected claims of his party’s perceived privilege yesterday as “the worst type of class war stereotypical nonsense.”

Conor Burns, who went to the £14,000 per year St Columba’s College in St Albans, was visibly shaking in the Commons when he hit back at accusations from the Labour benches that he doesn’t understand what it’s like to not know where his next meal is coming from.

He said that he had signed on for the dole in 1994 after graduating from university — the same year in which he failed to win a seat on Southampton Council, having derided his opponents as “spastics.”

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
Gisele Pelicot presents the German edition of her memoir, 'A Hymn for Life', in Hamburg, Germany, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026
International Women’s Day 2026 / 7 March 2026
7 March 2026

Gisele Pelicot said ‘shame must change sides.’ We may think we agree, but, argues LOUISE RAW, society still has some way to go

Jeremy Corbyn, with Zarah Sultana (not pictured) speaking at a discussion on Your Party, their new political party, at The World Transformed conference, at Niamos Radical Arts Centre in Hulme, Manchester. Picture date: Friday October 10, 2025
Your Party Conference 2025 / 28 November 2025
28 November 2025

With ‘Your Party’ holding its founding conference in Liverpool this weekend, JEREMY CORBYN speaks to Morning Star editor Ben Chacko about its potential, its priorities — and a few of its controversies too