Snobbery, the national sport we Brits are most famous for, never went away, it has shape-shifted, metamorphosed and re-emerged in a different form. The British class system isn’t dead, it has been reimagined.
But it is no longer your physical characteristics that can be mocked for being naff, or your car or your kitchen or your accent; it is your beliefs. Thoughts and political opinions are the new class signifiers in Starmer’s Britain.
Think immigration is too high? You might as well be driving a white Range Rover with teeth sparkling from a trip to Turkey. Voted for Brexit? You may as well have concreted over your front garden in order to use it to park your car. Not enthusiastic about the gender diversity agenda? Unbelievably common.
Being on the wrong side of the culture wars is the new Non-U.
The American historian Christopher Lasch argued that modern global elites have more in common with each other than the poorer people from their own countries and this is true too of our new class overlords.
This story is from the September 17, 2024 edition of Evening Standard.
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This story is from the September 17, 2024 edition of Evening Standard.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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