'Full of class prejudice': Ballet snobs outraged as UK politician dares to claim football is as important as arts (VIDEO)

Conservative Member of Parliament Jake Berry has faced a backlash in the UK after defending the importance of northern football clubs struggling to survive during the Covid-19 pandemic - with a ballet company leading the critics.

The MP for Rossendale and Darwen, which has been one of the areas in the UK worst affected by the crisis, used an opportunity in parliament to promote the vital position of football clubs in communities.

Berry told a debate that dozens of lower league football clubs in the north were just as loved by locals as major opera houses and theatres were to people in the south.

"For many people who live in London and the south of England, things like the opera house and ballet will be at the heart of their culture," said Berry, who has been involved in efforts to boost the economy in northern England through his former role in the 'northern powerhouse' initiative.

"But for many of us in the North it is our local football club... Blackburn Rovers, Accrington Stanley, Barrow, Carlisle or Sunderland."

Northern Ballet, which has around the same number of Twitter followers as the lowest-placed team mentioned by Berry, League Two Barrow, accused him of perpetuating stereotypes that people in the north place "less value" on culture than those in London.

"Culture is equally important to a huge percentage of people in the north," they said, describing themselves as "disappointed" by the remarks.

Labour MP for Liverpool Riverside Kim Johnson hit back at Berry: "Tell that to the five theaters, eight museums, three art galleries and more music venues than you can count here.

"You might have ignored the people who work in them but they are the soul of Liverpool. But yeah, two fantastic football clubs too."

One viewer accused Berry of an "unbelievable level of ignorance" that was "so damaging."

"Perhaps spend more time in the north and learn about its cultural riches," they added, pointing out that he lives in Wales.

Despite being heavily followed, many of the 72 clubs outside of the Premier League are calling for further government support at a time when they are facing huge financial challenges in the absence of fans and associated revenue.

Berry argued that football clubs had received little compared with the £1.5 billion ($1.97 billion) in support that he said the the arts sector had been given.

"Our football clubs in the English Football League, almost all of them the social cornerstone of the towns and cities they bear the names of, now stand on the brink of a financial collapse," he warned.

"These are structures that have taken decades to establish and will take decades to replace if they go bankrupt.

"While football grounds in Sunderland, Blackburn, Barrow and Preston might seem an awful long way from Glyndebourne [Opera House] or the Royal Ballet, they are nonetheless equally important parts of our nation's heritage and cultural fabric."

Phillip Blond, who influenced former Prime Minister David Cameron, defended Berry. "The reaction of many to this is full of class prejudice," he observed.

"He isn’t saying local football replaces high culture. He is saying that for many it is where they find their high culture - and it is Shakespearean and operatic."

Despite their fears for the future of the game, many fans chose to react with humor rather than sensitive outrage, including one who produced a photo of a group of Millwall fans - a club which is notorious for its diehard supporters - responding to an outdoor theatrical performance.

A northern artist and fan of League One Accrington said: "Forgive me for being stereotypically northern, and even more for agreeing with a [Conservative], but I absolutely prefer Accrington Stanley to ballet and always will.

"The arts have a vital place in our lives - but not on Saturday afternoons."