Nick Clegg: Outdated Snobbish Attitudes Are Hobbling Society
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg says the UK must abandon "outdated snobbish attitudes" in order to promote social mobility.

Oxford Tories' Nights of Port and Nazi Songs
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: With two prime ministers and 13 cabinet ministers among its alumni, the Oxford University Conservative Association has become a conveyor belt for future leaders since it was founded in 1924.

But the student body, whose patron is Baroness Thatcher, is facing potentially the biggest crisis in its history after its own officers accused members of anti-Semitism, debauchery and snobbery at its alcohol-fuelled meetings.

Four of the Association’s most senior members have announced they will be resigning after members allegedly sang a Nazi-themed song, while others complained that members from working-class backgrounds were ridiculed by a clique of former public schoolboys.

Students are now facing possible disciplinary action by both the University and the Conservative Party, both of which have launched investigations.

OUCA, whose honorary president is William Hague, uses its website to promote a public image of studious debate, with recent guest speakers including Sir John Major and Iain Duncan Smith.

At its weekly “port and policy” meetings, however, drunkenness and discrimination have been the main items on the agenda, according to some disillusioned members.

One officer claimed that members regularly sang a song which includes the words: “Dashing through the Reich…killing lots of kike (Jews).” » | Gordon Rayner, and Richard Alleyne | Friday, November 04, 2011

How to Keep Up with the Letwins
THE INDEPENDENT: In this anti-elitist age, snobbery seems ridiculously outmoded. But, argues John Walsh, there's an awful lot of it about ...

Like a duchess unwarily revealing her pants to the world's gaze, Oliver Letwin, the Cabinet Office minister, reportedly let slip a tiny flash of bigotry. He was talking to Boris Johnson about whether there should be more airports when he allegedly said: "We don't want more people from Sheffield flying away on cheap holidays."

Instantly, he revealed himself as a ridiculously old-fashioned snob – the kind who assumes that Northerners are whippet-owning paupers, that the poor should be persuaded to stay in their place, and that cheap holidays are less acceptable than expensive ones in Letwina, or wherever the minister goes in August.

The besetting sin of snobbery is that it reduces people, places, things and behaviour to one dimension, which can be despised without further thought (Kate Moss – common; Birmingham – ghastly; Saturday TV – vulgar; brown shoes worn in town – not done.) With luck they will live, and converse, with other snobs who agree with their views, so they can share conspiratorial shrieks about Kate Middleton's family background or Osborne & Little wallpaper. Sometimes, though, they'll misjudge their audience (to be fair, Letwin was speaking to a fellow Old Etonian) and the cat will be out of the bag. » | John Walsh | Tuesday, April 05, 2011



My comment:

This excellent article sums it all up perfectly. Thank you! The British have cornered the market in snobbery, I'm afraid. There's no snob like a British snob. The English, in particular, are past masters at the silly little game. Nowhere else in the world – and I have worked in a few countries – have I observed snobbery as bad as in the UK. By the way, looking at that photo of Oliver Letwin, it's hard to see what he has to be snobbish about! – © Mark

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G8: Carla Bruni Under Fire for 'Snobbery'
THE TELEGRAPH: Carla Bruni, the wife of French president Nicolas Sarkozy, has been criticised by the Italian press for snobbery verging on 'boorishness' for snubbing the summit's official programme.

"Someone tell the first lady that snobbery to the nth degree where we come from is called boorishness," the paper Il Giornale said as the G8 was wrapping up in L'Aquila, central Italy.

On Thursday, the other G8 first ladies including Michelle Obama toured the city devastated by an April 6 earthquake, while Miss Bruni planned to visit the disaster zone on Friday.

Miss Bruni, who arrived in Italy late Thursday, also stayed away from the wives' audience with Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday. >>> | Friday, July 10, 2009