I’ve long argued that the great divide in British politics is not between Labour or Conservative but between the arrogant and pompous political elite and the rest of us.
Here’s another example of the snobbish attitudes of those who lord it over us.
Tory grandee Sir Nicholas Winterton today claimed that MPs should continue to travel first-class on trains because passengers in standard carriages are 'a totally different type of people'.
In an astonishing outburst, Sir Nicholas said that people travelling on cheaper standard tickets had 'a different outlook on life' and were unlikely to be working or studying during their journey.
The MP's extraordinary comments came after he told Total Politics magazine
said he was ' infuriated' that politicians had to travel with ordinary members of the public.
Sir Nicholas spoke of his outrage that he has to 'stand when there are no seats'.
Sir Nicholas told BBC Radio 5 Live's Stephen Nolan show today: 'If I was in standard class, I would not do work because people would be looking over my shoulder all the time, there would be noise, there would be distraction and, I am sorry, if I am doing work I want to concentrate on that. Why do businesspeople travel first class?'
Asked whether he thought standard-class passengers behaved differently from those with first class tickets, Sir Nicholas replied: 'Yes, I do. They are a totally different type of people.
'There are lots of children, there is noise, there is activity...
'They have a different outlook on life. I very much doubt whether they are undertaking serious work and study, reading reports and amending reports which MPs do when they are travelling.'
Well, I don't know about you, but I'm very pleased that I do have a 'different outlook on life' from the appalling Sir Nicholas.
Sir Nicholas Winterton: First class wally.
3 comments:
Ah yes, because actually conversing with people or playing with your small children are such bad things. This sort of reminds me of the attitude behind the smoking bans. Anything that involves enjoyment of life or sociability is a sure sign of working-class barbarism. Instead, let us all be neurotic, angry, lonely workaholics.
I'm really, really sorry that the poor man has to undergo such torture whenever he travels. Really, it must be awful. Really. Truly. No, really! (Perhaps he should do us all a favour and just stay quietly at home out of harm's way.)
I met Nicholas Winterton shortly before I did the 50 mile walk for the MS Society a few years ago. The walk went through his constituency. I mentioned that as a 14 year old I had worked for Labour in the 1969 Newcastle under Lyme by election in which he was the Tory candidate. I thought that he was a very genial person and he enjoyed the recollection. In my 30 years as a Labour Party member I have known some Labour MPs who have had a fairly loose grasp of what life was like for ordinary people incluing my present Labour MP Charlotte Atkins
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