There’s a war raging against diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) – with the fight now on both sides of the Atlantic.

In the US, Trump banned initiatives within the federal government, with the new administration looking for ways to end DEI in the private sector too, as well as targeting universities. His case against the schemes being that they “deny, discredit, and undermine the traditional American values of hard work, excellence, and individual achievement – in favour of an unlawful, corrosive, and pernicious identity-based spoils system.”

Here in the UK, after gains in last month’s local elections, Reform’s Nigel Farage has warned council staff working on diversity initiatives to “seek alternative careers”. And companies here, particularly those with US headquarters, have already started to end initiatives, with City regulators recently pulling back from bringing in new rules for financial firms.

Why is DEI now under attack? Perhaps because in both countries, there is a sizeable community who regularly face exclusion and barriers to the workplace who have felt systematically left out of these initiatives – those from working class backgrounds.

Class background is one of the biggest predictors of life chances in this country. A young person who attended state school from a lower income home is 4.5 times less likely to become a top earner than someone who attended private school.

And Sutton Trust research has found young people from lower socio-economic backgrounds face considerable challenges in breaking into their chosen careers, and rising up the ranks once their foot is in the door. Factors such as accent discrimination and unpaid internships pose significant barriers for disadvantaged young people.

Professional occupations are dominated by those from better-off backgrounds, and even when those from working class families do get into these jobs, they are paid less – even in the same roles as their better-off peers.

Many people from working class backgrounds will already benefit from diversity initiatives based on their other characteristics, for example their ethnicity, gender, disability or sexuality.

But class is often overlooked as an extra disadvantage when combined with these other diversity characteristics.

Indeed, for women from working class backgrounds, the class pay gap is larger than that faced by working class men. And there are gaps for professionals from working class backgrounds from different ethnic groups, with Indian workers from a working-class background facing the largest earnings gap. These issues need to be tackled together.

And those from working class communities not already covered by existing initiatives – particularly many white working-class men – are often offered nothing from DEI efforts, despite the considerable barriers they face.

Far too few companies include class background in their diversity initiatives.

The good news is, there are several practical steps companies can take to build class into their diversity programmes. From ending unpaid internships, to reviewing recruitment and promotion practices and monitoring class pay gaps.

We need to bring class into the conversation. If we don’t, DEI initiatives in the UK risk going the same way as their US counterparts.