Imagine the scene. It’s a small organisation within the creative industry – an arts centre, perhaps, or a theatre group. Around a table sit people trying to craft a job ad for a senior management role. All recognise the need for increasing diversity, to encourage applications from social groups unrepresented within the organisation.

“One group often left out,” says one of the discussants, “is the working class.” “True,” says another. “But I think many working-class people are not actually working. They may be unemployed or claiming benefits.” “Or they may have been forced into a life of crime,” observes the first. “Or perhaps they are part of the underclass.” So, they craft a line to incorporate those distinct experiences: “We welcome and encourage applications from individuals who identify as working-class, benefit class, criminal class and/or underclass.” “Perfect,” everyone agrees.

It might sound like a parody cooked up by the Daily Mail or GB News to satirise “woke” organisations. In fact, while the conversation around the table is fictional, the job ad is real, placed by London’s Camden People’s Theatre, for a new development manager. After a media backlash last week, the theatre deleted that line from the ad.

Finding it “insulting on many levels”, Anne-Marie Canning, CEO of Brilliant Club, an organisation helping students from disadvantaged backgrounds gain access to universities, tweeted: “I have never seen this expression about socioeconomic diversity before”. In fact, it’s a phrase that many cultural organisations, from theatre companies to cultural centres to arts consultancies, now use. There is even an anacronym, “WBCU”, or “WBCU-C”, for “workers who........

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