Election Looming, Tories Put Posh Foot in Mouth

[iandhr]

Source: NY TIMES

LONDON — What could be more embarrassing for a party trying to change its elitist image than the existence of someone like Sir Nicholas Winterton? A Conservative member of Parliament for the last 39 years, Sir Nicholas wandered disastrously off message recently when he decided to share his thoughts on why legislators should be allowed to travel first class to avoid exposure to the common man.

They are a totally different type of people,” Sir Nicholas declared in a radio interview, speaking about the relative ghastliness of people in standard-class train cars. “There’s lots of children, there’s noise, there’s activity. I like to have peace and quiet when I’m traveling.”

As Labour supporters gleefully disseminated “LOL”-annotated links, David Cameron, the Conservative leader, moved swiftly to register his lack of appreciation for Sir Nicholas’s philosophy. Still, with an election looming, it was a reminder yet again of how difficult it has been for the Tories to shake off a past that a fair number of them still seem to embrace.

Mr. Cameron, whose party is leading Labour in the most recent polls, has made it his mission to drag the Conservatives — kicking and screaming, if necessary — away from their old chilly image as a stuffy bastion of the elite, the mean-spirited, the entitled and the clueless.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/23/world/europe/23britain.html?hp

[Jackpine Radical]

1. It really sucks when your image

comports so well with reality:

"the elite, the mean-spirited, the entitled and the clueless."

And how well it translates across the Atlantic.

[Cirque du So-What]

2. One need not scratch very deeply

to find the roots of class warfare. It's good that the occasional upper-class twit, having completely gone to seed, wanders off-message and reveals what's in his heart. Events like this confirm our suspicions about those born into wealth & privilege.

[dipsydoodle]

3. Hardly likely to offset this issue

Labour suspends three ex-ministers over lobbying claims. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8582093.stm

[Odin2005]

4. I like ther term "LOL-annotated links"!

[denverbill]

5. "the elite, the mean-spirited, the entitled and the clueless." Republican leadership to a T.

[T_i_B]

6. How is this LBN?

Sir Nicholas Winterton came out with this crap a couple of months ago. Why has it taken that long before the NYT notices?

[Bluenorthwest]

7. Wasn't Winterton the one who personally

sharpened Thatcher's teeth each week?

[T_i_B]

8. Oh dafter then that...

I should add at this point that Natash Engel is my MP and why he'd want to slap her arse is beyond me.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/6511633/Sir-Nicholas-Winterton-accused-of-slapping-female-MPs-bottom.html

[Zech Marquis The 2nd]

9. Sounds like a blue blood Repuke to me!

I'd like to see what this idiot would say about the Repukes here, "oh they're such rubbish!"

[zeemike]

10. Sounds a lot like the dynamics of politics here.

The only difference I can see is that we do not give our upper class titles.

[FailureToCommunicate]

11. We DU give the upper class titles here in America: "Sir Tax Cheat" & "Lady Gated Community"

[FailureToCommunicate]

12. Fun fact: "posh" acronym for Port Out, Starboard Home: the best rooms on the voyage to

and from India back in the day.

[DavidDvorkin]

13. Probably untrue

That's folk etymology. Here's a discussion: http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=posh

[FailureToCommunicate]

15. I would defer to your seniority on the matter, except

for several points. One, just because one etymology website casts doubts doesn't make it untrue - especially when that site says the reason for the "better" rooms on that side of the passage was for shade. Interesting but laughable. They were more desirable rooms because of the possibility of a view of the coastline as opposed to endless ocean for the rooms on the other side of the ship. And two,I know this -true or not - because a family friend from England (Sir Hamilton) had made the trip each year to India and always booked "posh" accommodations for those reasons.
And thirdly, I did say it was a "fun" fact did I not?

Cheers

[h9socialist]

14. Cameron is the same old crap repackaged.