Weekly News- Ben Jones hits back against GMB class war

Conservative Party parliamentary candidate for Halton Ben Jones says GMB union following lead of Gordon Brown after it raised questions about his class

A MAN who aims to be Halton’s next MP has blasted a union for claiming he is too middle class to represent the borough.

Conservative Ben Jones – who will go head-to-head with Labour incumbent Derek Twigg at the next election – was one of 10 Cheshire Tories to come under attack by the GMB union for his work background.

The union claims Mr Jones’s job as a management consultant meant he was ‘not representative’ of the people he wishes to represent.

But Mr Jones hit back, saying ‘Labour’s union paymasters’ were trying to ignite an irrelevant class debate.

Paul Kenny, GMB General Secretary, said, “Tory candidates remain wholly unrepresentative of the majority of the workforce of the North West.

“These are not people who operate in the real world.

“It is alarming that they still come from such a thin and well-heeled layer of our society.”

Mr Jones, said: “I am disappointed the GMB Union has joined Gordon Brown in trying to fight the next election on class lines.

“I believe most people in Britain care about whether the people who want our vote have the right ideas and values to represent us, not which school they went to or what jobs they’ve held.

“I spent seven-and-a-half years working as a management consultant helping Government and public sector bodies get better value for money for the taxpayer.

“I’ve spent the last two-and-a-half years working in the public sector for a health regulator in the interests of public health and protection.

“This shouldn’t matter. What should matter is whether I can do the job of an MP.”

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