Sound the “workshy” klaxon! It has been about a fortnight since the news cycle was last clogged up with patronising soundbites about how the UK is apparently not working hard enough, meaning that we were long overdue a rehash of this most irritating of debates. And lo, right on cue came the shadow home secretary Chris Philp, with his own contribution to this empty dialogue.
Speaking to Nick Robinson on BBC Radio 4, Philp – whose most memorable contribution to public life perhaps came when he tweeted “Great to see Sterling strengthening on the back of the new UK growth plan” shortly after Liz Truss’s 2022 mini budget, only for the pound’s value to promptly take a nosedive – said he has found “that working hard brought its own reward and I’ve kept doing that ever since. It is something I would like to infuse more into our national culture as well.” He went on to argue that “we need a work ethic, we need everybody to be making a contribution”, and that “as a country, we need to up our game”.
