Two examples at the weekend of how the British understanding of ‘class’ endures.
Gordon Brown told Andrew Marr “I have had to fight in my life for everything I've got.” Although it is possible that he had in mind political fights, especially with Tony Blair over the premiership, the context makes it clear that he is especially resentful of those born to ‘privilege.’
Brown has undoubtedly had his difficulties, tragedies even, some of which could have overcome lesser men, but to talk as if he is a poor boy made good is ludicrous. He clearly cannot stand the Etonian toffs who may replace him in government. One wonders what benefits he thinks he could, or should, pass on to his own sons from the position he has earned with all this fighting – after all it is only 4 generations since the Brown & Cameron families enjoyed equally modest worldly success:
“Both Brown and Cameron's paternal great grandfathers are listed in the 1841 Scotland Census working the land in Fife and Invernesshire respectively. The Cameron family went on to enjoy much greater success than the Browns in the 19th Century.”
Meanwhile, in a review of Harold Evans “Paper Chase” for The Times Philip Howard wrote that
“[Evans] exaggerates the poverty of his working-class credentials. His father was a driver of steam engines, a position of responsibility and glamour. His mother started a corner shop selling ice cream and groceries in Eccles, on the outskirt of Manchester.”
Later Howard asserts that “Not all Etonians are rich snobs. Charlie Douglas-Home, who replaced [Evans], was a King’s Scholar, a poor boy educated free by the bounty of Henry VI.
Poverty is not the same thing as lack of privilege
