Posh is so passé – today’s elite prefers the myth of the meritocracy

Posh is so passé – today’s elite prefers the myth of the meritocracy | Kenan Malik

Education, not your background, is now the main marker of social difference

“I’m not posh,” an irate David Dimbleby told the Today presenter John Humphrys. “I come from Wales, as you do.” Dimbleby, who this month stepped down as host of BBC’s Question Time, was being interviewed by Humphrys, another stalwart of BBC journalism. Humphrys wondered whether Dimbleby’s poshness helped him maintain close ties to the royal family. “There’s a typical sneer in that question,” Dimbleby retorted.

Whether coming from Wales is sufficient protection against poshness is a moot point. Dimbleby was educated at Charterhouse and Christ Church, Oxford, where he was a member of the Bullingdon Club. His second wife, Belinda Giles, is the granddaughter of an earl. His son Henry attended Eton (at the same time as Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg). That’s not exactly an unprivileged background.

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from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2VeXfwC

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