Class still matters in "meritocratic" Britain
A POSH accent may no longer be de rigeur for entry into the more rarefied circles of British society — indeed the idea of "poshness" itself has changed with the decline of British aristocracy and the rise of an affluent middle class — but, make no mistake, class snobbery is still very much alive in Britain.
It goes by the name of "snobocracy" and, like racism, it bubbles under the surface ready to bare its fangs on the slightest pretext. Don't we all remember how Jade Goody's controversial conduct on Celebrity Big Brother was blamed entirely on her working class origin? And then there is the almost daily spectacle of Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott — a man proud of his proletarian roots — being mocked for everything from his accent to his "crude" behaviour. More
It goes by the name of "snobocracy" and, like racism, it bubbles under the surface ready to bare its fangs on the slightest pretext. Don't we all remember how Jade Goody's controversial conduct on Celebrity Big Brother was blamed entirely on her working class origin? And then there is the almost daily spectacle of Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott — a man proud of his proletarian roots — being mocked for everything from his accent to his "crude" behaviour. More
