I'm a middle class, shiraz quaffing, self-indulgent, dinner party critic

Peter Hain displays some stunning working class bigotry

With the mood among voters still highly volatile, cabinet minister Peter Hain launched a fierce attack on self-indulgent 'dinner party critics' among the liberal middle classes who are tempted to use the ballot box to punish Blair. He said that by doing so, they would only hurt the poorest, who were dependent on a Labour victory.

The leader had 'got the message' about their displeasure, Hain said, arguing that those who still disagreed over Iraq or civil liberties should reopen the arguments after the election.

'There's now a kind of dinner party critics who quaff shiraz or chardonnay and just sneeringly say, "You are no different from the Tories",' he said. 'Most of the people in this category are pretty comfortably off: it's not going to be the end of the world if they get a Tory government. In a working-class constituency like mine, this is a lifeline. It's not a luxury.'

This guy is contemptible. The middle classes (whatever that means these days) are obviously not allowed an opinion, let alone the luxury of voicing one. I was born in Scotland. Voting Labour was practically a requirement of citizenship. Hain can go to hell in a handcart as far as I'm concerned.

What exactly does 'got the message' mean? Let me tell you. It means... I hear what you're saying, but I'm not going to change my mind.

I would like to point you to another example of a Labour Minister showing their true colours.