Wearing a tie helps working class fit in, says baroness
ALLOWING MPs to dispense with their ties is holding back the working classes, a former leader of the House of Lords has said.
Baroness Stowell of Beeston, who started work as a secretary and eventually entered the Cabinet, said that wearing a tie allowed those from humble backgrounds to fit in and integrate more easily in offices. John Bercow, the House of Commons speaker, prompted controversy last month when he ruled that MPs could remove their ties before speaking in debates.
But Lady Stowell said in a blog that “the decision by Mr Speaker to relax the rules about ties in the House of Commons has been troubling me”.
The peer, who described herself as “someone without a degree who travelled a long path myself ”, said tieless of- fices were harder for those from humble backgrounds to navigate socially.
The peer said when she started work in the civil service as an 18-year-old secretary she “could not conceive of eating fish without batter, pronounced the title Viscount ‘viz-count’, and had only ever heard the name Trollope used about women with certain reputations”.
She added: “I can see now that one of the most insidious ways those of us in powerful positions have diminished opportunities for non-graduates over the last 20 years is by undermining the importance of some standards hardworking people of all backgrounds used to share.
“More worryingly, we are still doing it without seeming to understand it is precisely these common standards which help people – especially those without the benefits the rest of us enjoy – navigate their way to success.” She continued: “My worry is Parliament – where our laws are made – dispensing with a universal symbol of common standards, without any regard for how and why such things might matter to everyone else. And of all the times to dispense with something that’s universal, choosing to do so now.”
She said: “Some people will argue I’m making a fuss over nothing. A tie is just a tie, they will laugh – a piece of coloured clothing with a knot in it. But these are the people – most likely highly educated – who don’t understand.”
However Tom Brake, the Liberal Democrat MP who persuaded Mr Bercow to relax the Commons dress code, hit back.
He told The Sunday Telegraph: “This is the strangest explanation yet for the need for MPs to wear ties. MPs, whatever their party or their class, are unlikely to need to hide behind a tie to help them blend in with their colleagues. They are not exactly shrinking violets.”