Instead of liberation, we’ve ended up with competitive grievance, weaponised victimhood, and a focus on ‘I’ not ‘us’

There are many things to be grateful to the musician Sam Fender for: reviving socially conscious songwriting, highlighting the brutality of austerity and calling for a ceasefire in Gaza before it was politically convenient. But, selfishly, the most important thing he’s done is take my spot of being yelled at on the internet. In a recent interview with the Sunday Times, Fender took aim at the prominence of identity politics compared to class.

“We are very good at talking about privileges – white, male or straight privilege. We rarely talk about class, though,” he said. “And that’s a lot of the reason that all the young lads are seduced by demagogues and psychos like Andrew Tate … People preach to some kid in a pit town in Durham who’s got f*** all and tell him he’s privileged? Then Tate tells him he’s worth something? It’s seductive.”

Ash Sarkar is the author of Minority Rule: Adventures in the Culture War