The Thatcher/Major years, as far as Michael was concerned, had wrecked the world that the 1945 Labour landslide had inaugurated. Shortly after the incident with Major, Michael traveled to Manchester from his constituency in Wales. The trip required a change of trains in Abergavenny: I used to go down there when I first got to that part of the world--1930s in the Monmouth constituency was the first place I fought a campaign. Abergavenny was a nice little busy railway town--the best supporters of the Labour Party--a thriving little market town. When I turned up [at the railway station] two days after I heard Mr. Major in London announce we were to have a classless society--the whole place was absolutely deserted. The ticket office was closed. Everything was closed except the lavatory. The only thing that was working was the bloody condom machine with some posh title called Empire--Elite! That's it! The only thing working in the Major station was the Elite Condoms. I didn't need one at the time, I may say, but there you are. That was my introduction to Major's classless society.