Mocking regional accents is the last form of acceptable discrimination, says the MP

Northumbrian MP Ian Lavery says teasing people with strong regional accents is the ultimate form of acceptable discrimination.

As a Labor MP for Blyth and Ashington, people hurled insults at him because of his speech, during a parliamentary debate.

Joe Platt, Labor MP for Leigh and Atherton, led a Westminster Hall debate on regional dialects and social mobility, explaining the pressure on people to change their speech to get ahead in life.

The row comes as Andy Burnham, who was born in Merseyside and grew up in Culchez, near Warrington, is set to become prime minister.

Burnham proposed a devolution program including setting up No 10 North and MPs said the UK should restore its pride in the cultural depth of regional dialects.

Lavery said his speech was from the coal mines and showed who he was, where he came from and who he represented, but he still used strong words to highlight the exclusion of employers and barriers to working class children.

“A lot of people are forced to maintain an accent they’re proud of or give up their accent to try to get on with their lives,” he said.

“It’s not right – it’s the last form of discrimination that’s acceptable in this country and it’s ridiculous.”

“That’s what we suffer from the most – because of social markers, local dialect, who you are and where you should be in life, because of the way you speak,” he added.

Plath said, “Long before we explain our politics, our profession, or our government, the moment we open our mouths, our accents indicate the core of who we are.” Such rhetoric can hold people back.

Plath said these obstacles were not talked about enough, and as a working-class woman from Salford, she felt pressured to speak in a neutral way.

“I admit there were times when I wondered if softening my voice would make me sound more credible, more professional, more ‘Westminster.’