Out of Touch

I read, without much surprise, the following headline on the BBC news website a few minutes ago: "Tories could 'rip up' BBC charter". That the Tories are even more blatantly in the pocket of the Murdoch Empire than has become the norm for British politicians is hardly news and the same goes for the fact that they are ideologically opposed to the corporation*, so I almost didn't bother to read further. But I did. And I'm glad that I did because I found this gem:

"...Jeremy Hunt told the Financial Times that the corporation was "out of touch with the hard times the rest of the electorate is going through"..."

This struck me as interesting because I knew that Jeremy Hunt is a Surrey M.P and "Jeremy Hunt" does not exactly sound like a working class (or even lower middle class) name. After a few minutes seaching my suspicions were confirmed.

It occurs to me that the Charterhouse-and-Oxbridge-educated, multi-millionaire M.P for one of the richest parts of Britain is less than entirely familiar with "the hard times the rest of the electorate is going through" himself.

*Consider for a moment the implications of this. The BBC is, in most respects, a fairly conservative institution (though perhaps "establishment liberal" would be more accurate) and the Tories, our next government alas, are ideologically opposed to it. From the right.