Eden’s Foreign Secretary Harold Macmillan became Prime Minister in January 1957. The economy was his prime concern. Macmillan also took close control of foreign policy. He worked to create better relationship with the USA after Suez conflict, and his wartime friendship with Dwight D. Eisenhower was useful. The better relationship remained after the John F. Kennedy became President. During Macmillan office many colonies became free. His "wind of change" speech (February 1960) indicated his policy. Ghana and Malaya were granted independence in 1957, Nigeria in 1960 and Kenya in 1963. However in the Middle East Macmillan wanted Britain to remain a force - he invaded Iraq in 1958 and 1960, and becoming involved in Oman.
In 1964, Labour party came into power with Harold Wilson as
Prime Minister. During his first period of office, Wilson's government set up
the Open University which is regarded as his greatest achievement. Overseas,
Wilson was troubled by crises in several of Britain's former colonies,
especially Rhodesia and South Africa. Wilson gave diplomatic support but
resisted pressure for military support to the United States in the Vietnam
War.premiership of his successor Sir Edward Heath was the bloodiest in the
history of the Northern Ireland Troubles. He was prime minister at the time of
Bloody Sunday in 1972 when 14 unarmed men were killed by British soldiers
during an illegal march in Londonderry City.'s major achievement as prime
minister was to take Britain into the European Economic Community in 1973.
However great inflation led him into confrontation with some of the most powerful
trade unions, and because of the energy shortages the country's industry worked
a three-day week to conserve power.he, nor his successors labour PM’s were able
to fight the economic crisis in the country. The Conservatives ran a campaign
on the slogan "Labour isn't working." As expected, Margaret Thatcher
won the election.
Thatcher formed a government on May 4, 1979, promising to reverse the UK's economic decline and to reduce the role of the state in the economy.economic policy, Thatcher started increased interest rates to drive down the money supply. Value added tax (VAT) rose sharply to 15% and the inflation also rose. These moves hit businesses, especially in the manufacturing sector, and unemployment quickly passed two million. Unemployment continued to rise, peaking at a figure of more than 3.2 million.defense budget was cut, the Falkland Islands defense was disregarded, and immigration reform was passed (the citizens of the few remaining British colonies did not have the same rights as the citizens of the UK) - all this was the most difficult foreign policy decision of Thatcher's era.Argentina, an unstable military junta was in power and on April 2, 1982, it invaded the Falkland Islands, the only invasion of a British territory since World War II. Thatcher sent a naval task force to recapture the Islands. The ensuing military campaign was successful, resulting in a wave of patriotic enthusiasm for her personally. Additionally, Thatcher's 'Right to Buy' policy, when people were permitted to buy their homes at a discount did much to increase her government's popularity in working-class areas.aimed at reducing the power of the trade unions. Several unions went on strikes that were aimed at damaging her politically. The most significant of these was carried out by the National Union of Mineworkers. However, Thatcher had made preparations long in advance for an NUM strike by building up coal stocks, and there were no cuts in electric power, unlike 1972.
(Police tactics during the strike concerned civil libertarians: stopping suspected strike sympathisers travelling towards coalfields when they were still long distances from them, phone tapping, and a violent battle with mass pickets at Orgreave. But images of massed militant miners using violence to prevent other miners from working, along with the fact that (illegally under a recent Act) the NUM had not held a ballot to approve strike action, swung public opinion against the strike).Miners' Strike lasted a full year, 1984-85, before of half the miners went back to work and the NUM leadership gave in without a deal. This failed political strike marked a turning point in UK politics: no longer could militant unions remove a democratically elected government.Thatcher, the Hong Kong (the only remaining British territory in Asia) was transferred to China in 1997.the early morning of October 12, 1984, Thatcher escaped death (on the day before her 59th birthday) from the bomb placed by the Irish Republican Army in Brighton's Grand Hotel during the Conservative Party conference. Five people died in the attack. Thatcher insisted that the conference open on time the next day and made her speech as planned.November 15, 1985, Thatcher signed the Hillsborough Anglo-Irish Agreement, the first acknowledgement by a British government that the Republic of Ireland had an important role to play in Northern Ireland. But it did little to reduce IRA violence.'s political and economic philosophy emphasised free markets and entrepreneurialism. After the 1983 election, the Government became sold off most of the large utilities which had been in public ownership since the late 1940s. The policy of privatisation has become synonymous with Thatcherism.the Cold War, Mrs Thatcher supported Ronald Reagan's policies against the Soviets. US forces were permitted by Mrs. Thatcher to station nuclear cruise missiles at British bases, arousing mass protests by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. However, she later was the first Western leader to respond warmly to the rise of reformist Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, declaring she liked him and "We can do business together" after a meeting three months before he came to power in 1985.supported the US bombing raid on Libya from bases in the UK in 1986 when other NATO allies did not.winning the 1987 general election, on the economic boom and against an anti-nuclear Labour opposition, she became the longest serving Prime Minister of the UK since Lord Liverpool (1812-1827), and first to win three successive elections since Lord Palmerston in 1865.UK newspapers supported her - with the exception of The Daily Mirror and The Guardian - and were rewarded with regular press briefings by her press secretary. She was known as "Maggie" in the tabloids, which inspired the well-known "Maggie Out!" protest song, sung throughout that period by some of her opponents. Her unpopularity on the left is evident from the lyrics of several contemporary popular songs: "Stand Down Margaret", "Tramp the Dirt Down", and "Mother Knows Best".the late 1980s, Thatcher, a former chemist, became concerned with environmental issues. In 1988, she made a major speech accepting the problems of global warming, ozone depletion and acid rain. In 1990, she opened the Hadley Centre for climate prediction and research.she had supported British membership, Thatcher believed that the role of the EC should be limited to free trade and effective competition, and feared that new EC regulations would reverse the changes she was making in the UK.. She was specifically against Economic and Monetary Union, through which a single currency would replace national currencies, and for which the EC was making preparations.'s popularity once again declined in 1989 due to the introduction of the Poll Tax. (a tax paid as the same sum of money by every individual resident, with only limited discounts for low earners.) A large London demonstration against the poll tax on March 31, 1990 - the day before it was introduced in England and Wales - turned into a riot. Millions of people resisted paying the tax. Mrs Thatcher refused to compromise, or change the tax, and its unpopularity was a major factor in Thatcher's downfall.
Tony Blair became Prime Minister in 1997 after the victory over the Conservative Party. He served as the Prime Minister of the UK from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007, the Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. With victories in 1997, 2001, and 2005, Blair was the Labour Party's longest-serving prime minister, the only person to lead the party to three consecutive general election victories. Under the title of New Labour, he promised economic and social reform. Early policies of the Blair government included the minimum wage and university tuition fees. Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown also gave the Bank of England the power to set the base rate of interest autonomously.domestic government policy, Blair significantly increased public spending on health and education while also introducing controversial market-based reforms in these areas. Blair has raised taxes; introduced some new employment rights; introduced significant constitutional reforms (which remain incomplete and controversial); promoted new rights for gay people in the Civil Partnership Act 2004; and signed treaties integrating Britain more closely with the EU, and introduced tough anti-terrorism and identity card legislation.contribution towards assisting the Northern Ireland Peace Process by helping to negotiate the Good Friday Agreement after 30 years of conflict was widely recognised.Blair has been criticised for his alliance with U.S. President George W. Bush and his policies in the Middle East, including the Iraq War, the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Blair is also criticised for an alleged tendency to spin important information in a way that can be misleading. Blair is the first ever Prime Minister of the UK to have been formally questioned by police officers whilst in office, although he was not under caution when interviewed.also regard Tony Blair as having eroded civil liberties and increased social authoritarianism, by increasing police powers, in the form of more arrestable offences, DNA recording. His style was sometimes criticised as not that of a prime minister and head of government, which he was, but of a president and head of state, which he was not.evaluations of Blair's skills as a parliamentarian differ, he is acknowledged to be a highly skillful media performer in other contexts, appearing modern, charismatic, informal and articulate. Perhaps his best known television appearance was his tribute to Diana, Princess of Wales on the morning of her death in August 1997, in which he famously described her as "the People's Princess".10 May 2007, Blair announced during a speech his intention to resign as both Labour Party leader and Prime Minister the following June. On June 24 he formally handed over the leadership of the Labour Party to Gordon Brown at a special party conference in Manchester. Blair handed in his resignation as Prime Minister of the UK to the Queen on 27 June 2007, his successor Gordon Brown assumed office the same afternoon. He also resigned his seat in the House of Commons.
During his Labour leadership campaign, Brown proposed some policy initiatives:
· End to corruption. Following the cash for honours scandal, Brown emphasised cracking down on corruption.
· Constitutional reform Brown has not stated if he proposes a U.S.-style written constitution - something the UK has never had. He said in a speech that he wants a “better constitution” that is “clear about the rights and responsibilities of being a citizen in Britain today.’ Brown has said he will give Parliament the final say on whether British troops are sent into action in future.
· Housing. House planning restrictions are likely to be relaxed. Brown said he wants to release more land and ease access to ownership with shared equity schemes. He backed a proposal to build five new eco-towns, each housing between 10,000 and 20,000 homeowners - up to 100,000 new homes in total.
· Health. Brown intends to have doctors' surgeries open at the weekends, and GPs on call in the evenings. Brown stated that the NHS was his "top priority", yet he had just cut the capital budget of the English NHS from £6.2bn to £4.2bn.
"We will not allow people to separate us from the United
States of America in dealing with the common challenges that we face around the
world. I think people have got to remember that the relationship between
Britain and America and between a British prime minister and an American
president is built on the things that we share, the same enduring values about
the importance of liberty, opportunity, the dignity of the individual. I will
continue to work, as Tony Blair did, very closely with the American
administration."
Lecture 3.
Population
. Natural growth
people who now inhabit the British Isles are descended mainly from the people who inhabited them nearly 9 cent ago. The English nation was formed as a result of the amalgamation of the native population of the Br. Isles with the invaders.
Located as they are on a group of islands close to Continental Europe, the lands now constituting the United Kingdom have been subject to many invasions and migrations, especially from Scandinavia and the continent, including Roman occupation for several centuries. Present day Britons are descended mainly from the varied ethnic stocks that settled there before the eleventh century. The pre-Celtic, Celtic, Roman, Anglo-Saxon, and Norse influences were blended on Great Britain under the Normans, Scandinavian Vikings who had lived in Northern France. Between the various constituent countries, there has been sufficient internal migration to mix the population.
Today in England, Wales. Scotland and N. Ireland, English is the language predominately spoken. In Wales, however. Welsh, a form of British Celtic, is spoken by some 20 per cent of the population. In Scotland over 80000 people speak the Scottish form of Gaelic A few families in N. Ireland still speak the Irish form of Gaeliccenturies the British governments promoted the spread of English at the expense of other languages. Moreover, at times it was strictly forbidden to study any of the languages of the minorities living on the British Isles. Today some of the country's ethnic minorities formed as a result of recent immigration have their own languages, normally as well as English.of the people have been taken regularly every 10 years since 1801, except that there was no census in 1941 because of the Second World War. It is believed that at the end of the 11th century the population of GB was about 2 mil, while at the end of the 17th century the population was about 6,5 mil. The main factor in this gradual growth of population was a slow natural increase, with high death rates and, in particular, very high infant and maternal mortality.most extensive growth of the population of GB took place in the 19th century, when the number pf inhabitants increased from 9 mil to 38 mil.birth-rates have fallen since the mid - 1960s. The main reason is associated with the social conditions in the country: the growth of unemployment, deterioration of the living standards, social tension, expensive housing.
At the April 2001 UK Census, the United Kingdom's population
was 58,789,194, the third-largest in the European Union (behind Germany and
France) and the twenty-first largest in the world. This had been estimated up
to 59,834,300 by the Office for National Statistics in 2004. Two years later it
had increased to 60.2 million, largely from net immigration, but also because
of a rising birth rate and increasing life expectancy. Immigration began to play a more
important role in population growth more recently.number of population GB holds
one of the first places among the European countries.English make up 4/5 of the
total population and they inhabit England proper and many of them live in
industrial cities of Scotland, Wales and N. Ireland. The proportion of the
Scotsmen, Welshmen and Irishmen is about 15 %. This group includes foreigners,
too. The inhabitants of Wales, Scotland and N. Ireland have preserved their
culture, originality and languages.population of England is and has been for
centuries, greater than that of all other parts of Britain (England - 48 mil,
Wales - 3 mil, Scotland - 5 mil, N. Ireland -2 mil).are about 6 % more male than
female births every year. Because of the higher mortality of men at all ages,
however, there is a turning point, at about 50 years of age, at which the
number of women exceeds the number of men.country as a whole has a population
density of about 233 people to sqr km, in England proper - 363 people to the
sqr km, in Wales - 137, in Scotland - 66, in N. Ireland - 112 (1989). Its overall population
density is one of the highest in the world.most highly populated regions are the
industrial districts: South-East England and North- East England. About a quarter of the
population lives in England's prosperous south-east and is predominantly urban
and suburban, with an estimated 7,517,700 in the capital of London.
. Migration
Traditionally Britain has a net outflow of people to the rest of the world. During the 100 years, from 1836 to 1936 about 11 mil people left the British Isles. This mass migration especially in the 19th century was a movement of ruined peasants, the unemployed-people who hoped to find new opportunities and happiness on new territories. The immigrants went mainly to North America, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, to other lands in Asia and Africa, where they settled, spreading the economic, social, political and cultural influence of GB, as well as the English language, which became the state language of many countries.were periods when on the contrary the country experienced a large influx of people.was in the 1930s when there was a considerable flow of refugees from continental Europe as a result of fascist persecution, and in the late 1950s and early 1960s mainly the result of a large influx of people from the West Indies and the Indian sub-continent. After the 1950s and in the 1960s considerable numbers of people entered Britain from Commonwealth countries, especially from the West Indies, Asia and Africa and settled permanently in the country. Today in Britain there are sizeable groups of Americans, Australians, Chinese and various European communities such as Greek, Turkish, Italians and Spaniards living in Britain.
As of 2001, 7.9% of the UK's population identified themselves
as an 'ethnic minority'. The United Kingdom has amongst the highest immigration
rates in Europe, along with Italy and Spain it is now believed that the percentage
of 'ethnic minorities' is some 9% of the total UK population. In some UK cities
the percentage of 'minority groups' is large but is still less than half, for
example; Birmingham (UK's 2nd largest city) has 29.6%, Leicester 36%. The
latest figures (for 2004) show a record level of immigration, with net
migration to the UK of 223,000.latest wave of immigration to hit the UK began
in May 2004 when the European Union was expanded. From May 2004 to June 2006,
around 600,000 people from Central and Eastern Europe emigrated to the UK to
work, although this figure is for arrivals only and therefore does not take
account of people leaving, hence net migration is likely to be lower. In 2004
net migration from EU states stood at 74,000. Along with this, there is a large
number of Indians, mainly from northern India, which make up about 2.0% of the
population.
. Distribution
As regards the proportion of urban population Britain
probably holds the first place in the world. Over 90 % of its population live
in towns. In Britain there are 91 towns with the population of over 100
thousand people. About one third of the country's population is concentrated in
the town districts, which comprise numerous merged towns and are called
conurbations. They are: Greater London, Central Clydeside, Merseyside,
South-East Lancashire, Tyneside, the West Midlands and West Yorkshire.general
about half the population lives in a belt across England with South Lancashire
and west Yorkshire at one end, and the London area at the other, having the
industrialized Midlands at its centre.areas with large population are: the
central lowlands of Scotland; north-east England from north of the river Tyne
down to the river Tees; south-west Wales; the Bristol area; and the English
Channel coast from Poole, in Dorset, eastwards. Rural settlements of GB differ
from the traditional villages situated in other countries. They are located not
far from towns and resemble their suburbs. The 1980s witnessed a steady growth
of mass unemployment and deterioration of the living standards of the people.
The number of poor people in the country reached about 12 mln.most notable
trend in the employment pattern during the last years has been the growth of
people employed in services. This is a typical feature which is observed in all
developed countries.
. Ethnic
identity
National ('ethnic') loyalties can be strong among the people
in Britain whose ancestors were not English. (Scottish, Welsh or Irish) They
may even join one of the sporting and social clubs for these nations that
promote national folk music, organize parties on special national days and
promote doing things differently from the English.Scotland several important
aspects of public life are organized and differently from the rest of Britain -
education, law and religion. The Scottish way of speaking English is very
distinctive. A modern form of the dialect known as Scots has many features
which are different from other forms of English and can’t usually be understood
by people who aren’t Scottish.people of Wales don’t differ much in everyday
life. The organization of public life is similar to that in England. Many
people in Wales even don’t consider themselves to be especially Welsh at all.
In the 19th century large numbers of Scottish, Irish and English people went to
find work there, and today many English people still live in Wales or have
holiday houses there. However, there is one important symbol of Welsh identity
- the Welsh language. Everybody in Wales can speak English, but it isn’t
everybody's first language. For about 20% of the population (more than half a
million people), the mother-tongue is Welsh. Thanks to many campaigns, the
language receives a lot of public support. All children in Wales learn it at
school there are many local newspapers in Welsh, there is a Welsh television
channel and nearly all public notices and signs are written in both Welsh and
English.English people usually make no distinction in their minds between
'English' and 'British'. For example, at international football or rugby
matches, when the players stand to attention to hear their national anthems,
the Scottish, Irish and Welsh have their own songs, while the English one is
just 'God Save the Queen' - the same as the British national anthem.of Northern
Ireland can be divided into 2 groups: Protestants who came from England and
Scotland who want to remain in the UK and the native Irish Catholics who want
to become a pert of the Irish republic. These groups live separately in
different housing estates, listen to different radio and TV programmes, go to
different doctors, read different newspapers and so on.great wave of
immigration from the Caribbean and south Asia took place between 1950 and 1965.
These immigrants brought with them different languages, different religions (Hindu
and Muslim) and everyday habits and attitudes. As they usually married among
themselves, these habits and customs have been preserved.
5.
Geographic Identity
Place of birth is not very important nowadays. People are
just too mobile and very few live in the same place all their lives. There is
quite a lot of local pride, and people find many opportunities to express it.
This pride arises because people are happy to live in what they consider to be
a nice place and often when they’re fighting to preserve it.everybody has a
spoken accent that identifies them as coming from a particular large city or
region. In some cases there is quite a strong sense of identification.
Liverpudlians (from Liverpool), Mancunians (from Manchester), Geordies (from
the Newcastle area) and Cockneys (from London) are often proud to be known by
these names.English people see themselves as either 'northerners' or
'southerners'. The fact that the south is on the whole richer than the north,
and the domination of the media by the affairs of London and the south-east,
leads to resentment in the north. this reinforces the pride in their northern
roots felt by many northerners, who, stereotypically, see themselves as
tougher, more honest and warmer-hearted than the soft, hypocritical and
unfriendly southerners. To people in the south, the stereotypical northerner
(who is usually male) is rather ignorant and uncultured and interested only and
beer-drinking
6. Being
British
British people, although many of them feel proud to be British,
aren’t normally actively patriotic. They often feel uncomfortable if, in
conversation with somebody from another country, that person refers to 'you'
where 'you' means Britain or the British government. They are individualistic
and do not like to feel that they are personally representing their country.the
last quarter of the twentieth century there was a dramatic and severe loss of
confidence in British public institutions. Nearly one third of the people
questioned in an opinion poll in the early 1990s said that they could think of
nothing about Britain to be proud of. In addition, almost half said that they
would emigrate if they. This decrease in confidence was accompanied by a change
in the previous rather patronizing attitude to foreigners and foreign ways. In
the days of empire, foreigners were often considered amusing, even interesting,
but not really to be taken seriously. These days, many foreign ways of doing
things are admired and there is a greater openness to foreign influences.with
this patriotism often takes a rather defensive form. The British keep
distinctive ways of doing things, such as driving on the left and using
different systems of measurement.British people know remarkably little about
Europe and who lives there. They continue to be very bad about learning other
peoples' languages. Fluency in any European language other than English is
generally regarded as exotic. But there is nothing defensive or deliberate
about this attitude. The British do not refuse to speak other languages. They
are just lazy.
7. Family
In comparison with most other places in the world, family is
less important in Britain, especially in England. Families are rather nuclear
than extended, except among some racial minorities. It’s unusual for adults of
different generations within the family to live together. The average number of
people living in each household in Britain is lower than in most other European
countries. The proportion of elderly people living alone is similarly
highfamily events such as weddings, births and funerals aren’t automatically
accompanied by large gatherings of people. It is still common to appoint people
to certain roles on such occasions, such as 'best man' at a wedding, or
godmother and godfather when a child is born. But for most people these
appointments don’t imply lifelong responsibility. In fact, family gatherings of
any kind beyond the household unit are rare. For most people, they are confined
to the Christmas period.the stereotyped nuclear family of father, mother and
children is becoming less common. Britain has a higher rate of divorce than
anywhere else in Europe except Denmark and the proportion of children born
outside marriage has risen dramatically and is also one of the highest (about a
third of all births). However, these trends do not necessarily mean that the
nuclear family is disappearing. Divorces have increased, but the majority of
marriages in Britain (about 55%) do not break down. In addition, it is notable
that about three-quarters of all births outside marriage are officially
registered by both parents and more than half of the children concerned are
born to parents who are living together at the time.'s financial situation is
not just the responsibility of the man. But they would still normally
complement the woman, not the man, on a beautifully decorated or well-kept
house. Everyday care of the children is still seen as mainly the woman's
responsibility. Although almost as many women have jobs as men, nearly half of
the jobs done by women are part-time. In fact, the majority of mothers with
children under the age of 12 either have no job or work only during school
hours. Men certainly take a more active domestic role than they did 40 years
ago. Some things, however, never seem to change. A comparison of child-rearing
habits of the 1960s and the 1980s showed that the proportion of men who never
changed a baby's nappy had remained the same (40%)!the public level there are
contradictions. Britain was one of the first European countries to have a woman
Prime Minister and a woman chairperson of debate in its Parliament. However, in
the early nineties, only about 5% of MPs were women, only 20% of lawyers in
Britain were women, less than 10% of accountants were women and there was one
female consultant brain surgeon in the whole country.the 1997 election the
proportion of women MPs increased sharply (to 18%) and nearly every institution
in the country has opened its doors to women now. One of the last to do so was
the Anglican Church, which, after much debate, decided in favour the ordination
of women priests in 1993. However, there are a few institutions which, at the
time of writing, still don't accept female members - for example, the Oxford
and Cambridge Club in London, an association for graduates of these two universities.
8. Class
Historians say that the class system has survived in Britain because of its flexibility. It has always been possible to buy or marry or even work your way up, so that your children (and their children) belong to a higher social class than you do. As a result, the class system has never been swept away by a revolution.in modern Britain are very conscious of class differences. They regard it as difficult to become friends with somebody from a different class. Although most people say they do not approve of class divisions, different classes have different sets of attitudes and daily habits: they eat different food at different times of day, they like to talk about different topics using different styles and accents of English, they enjoy different pastimes and sports, they have different values about what things in life are most important and different ideas about the correct way to behave, they go to different kinds of school.interesting feature of the class structure in Britain is that it is not just, or even mainly, relative wealth or the appearance of it which determines someone's class. Of course, wealth is part of it - if you become wealthy, you can provide the conditions to enable your children to belong to a higher class than you do. But it is not always possible to guess reliably the class to which a person belongs by looking at his or her clothes, car or bank balance. The most obvious and immediate sign comes when a person opens his or her mouth giving the listener clues to the speaker's attitudes and interests, both of which are indicative of class.even more indicative than what the speaker says is the way that he or she says it. The English grammar and vocabulary which is used in public speaking, radio and television news broadcasts, books and newspapers and also - unless the lessons are run by Americans - as a model for learners of English as a foreign language; is known as 'standard British English'. Most working-class people, however, use lots of words and grammatical forms in their every day speech which are regarded as 'non-standard'., nearly everybody in the country is capable of using standard English (or something very close to it) when they judge that the situation demands it. They are taught to do so at school. The most prestigious accent in Britain is known as "Received Pronunciation" RP. - English spoken with an RP accent , 'BBC English' or 'Oxford English' or 'the Queen's English'.class people in particular are traditionally proud of their class membership and would not usually wish to be thought of as belonging to any other class. Interestingly, a survey conducted in the early 1990s showed that the proportion of people who describe themselves as working class is actually greater than the proportion whom sociologists would classify as such! This is one manifestation of a phenomenon known as 'inverted snobbery', whereby middle-class people try to adopt working-class values and habits. They do this in the belief that the working classes are in some way ' better' (for example, more honest) than the middle classes.general, the different classes mix more readily and easily with each other than they used to. There has been a great increase in the number of people from working-class origins who are house owners and who do traditionally middle-class jobs.