WORKING-class people must have a voice in the nation’s media to defend and promote their interests, bakers’ union general secretary Ian Hodson has said.

He told delegates attending a Morning Star fringe event at the BFAWU annual conference on Monday that workers must be exposed to alternatives to divide-and-rule narratives pumped out by right-wing newspaper barons.

“They tell people that the best way to improve their lives is by getting rid of migrants, being against the unemployed or blaming the sick and the disabled,” Mr Hodson told union members at Yarnfield Park, near Stone, Staffordshire.

“They want you to believe those people are responsible for your hardship, but they’re not. Hardship has always been caused by political choices.

“The difference with the Morning Star is that it actually reports on trade union issues. It’s important to build media that represents our interests — class interests.

“If we do that, I think we have a chance of building stronger organisations and improving our lives.”

Liberation general secretary Roger McKenzie said the labour movement needs a thriving national newspaper to help it organise and push for change.

Mr McKenzie, who is also the Star’s parliamentary reporter, added: “It is important for the sake of building the movement, for promoting our campaigns, for making sure we’re united and your terms and conditions are not being undermined by unscrupulous managers.

“Unity is strength. When we do stand together, there’s no more powerful a force on Earth than working-class people.”

Star editor Ben Chacko argued that the “huge celebration of wealth and patriotism” seen in coverage of events marking the Queen’s platinum jubilee last weekend demonstrated that most of Britain’s media is failing to hold power to account.