Imagine if Nick Clegg had spat at them?
It's a tricky one that, Worra. If we were doing like-for-like, the abused lower classes would have to remove jobs, home, prospects, decent healthcare, pensions and savings from Nick Clegg's class. Or, more accurately, simper through photo-opportunities while their bosses removed them.
This not being an option for the women of Sheffield, I guess they felt spitting on him was an accurate metaphorical equivalemnt.