Saturday, October 06, 2007

Tory Toffs: How Not to Back Up Your Argument

Kateshomeblog has accused me of indirectly raising the issue of class in my post BELOW on galvanising the Tory vote. She's effectively accused me of using a dog whistle. I hate class based politics, as this short excerpt from Wednesday's Vox Politix shows. Journalist Boni Sones accuses the Tory Party of being class based but rather, er, undermines her argument by saying that David Davis (grew up on a council estate) is a toff and that Ed Balls (privately educated) is a man of the people. As you will see, I get a bit angry...



If looks could kill, eh?! Seriously, I love having Boni on the programme as she always manages to provoke me. Shame the edit stops before I tell her she's talking bollocks. Hey ho.

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

LOL pity it was so short. I think we've moved on from class politics. The tory voters look to be as mixed a bunch as Labours voters. Traditional style voting patterns are gone - like a lot of tradition.

Man in a Shed said...

I love the bit where she justifies her right to comment on these issues by saying "I'm an intuitive person" - or to put it another way a person who draws conclusions without facts to back them up.

Quite.

I have to say she sounded rather posh also ....

Anonymous said...

It is Labour that, on many occasions, is still fighting a long-dead class war - often led by its own toffs like Balls, Blair, Jay, Harman and the Benns.

To be a truly successful government decisons must be made pragmatically and not on some ideological basis. The modern world is not the world of Keir Hardie or that of Harold MacMillan. There are a host of new problems and an even larger host of opportunities possible.

I think that what the lady meant is that Gordon Brown stirs something visceral, an antipathy that she cannot readily account for. I am the opposite, I do not like Brown but I can stomach him - the toffish Blair sickened me always. But, I could be wrong, she might just think of him as tribally Scottish.

Victor

Anonymous said...

Love it! Think I'll watch the rest now.

Oscar Miller said...

You may love having Boni on the show Iain but she doesn't half have an affinity with a certain Edward BALLS. What a load... and yes, if anyone sounds posh it's Boni.

Vienna Woods said...

We were having this very discussion at one of our English society meetings last week. What emerged was that many people interpret upper class as anyone speaking English-English without trace of a regional accent. Several Americans (who are they to criticise?) thought that the word "ask" should not rhyme with "arse" for instance. They indeed, do have a point. I speak with a regional accent and enjoy hearing the wealth of accents that we have in the UK. However, we do have our share of those jumped-up posers who do all they can to pretend they are something they are not. By the way, this rather opinionated mouthy woman on this program spoke with more of a put-on upper class accent than any of the men. Who the hell is she?

Geezer said...

Iain was dead right when he called her asertions "hackneyed". Tory critics are getting a bit desperate when they revert to old class-war mantra's, especially the ones that sound as "posh" as her!

Laurence Boyce said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Sir-C4' said...

Boni should have her tounge cut off for those blatant lies.

Anonymous said...

Perhaps we are all misunderstanding the lady, and she was really complimenting the Conservatives on being a 'classy' Party?

Otherwise, she has condemned herself out of her own mouth of being brainwashed by NuLab spin. Calling David Davis a 'toff' really made me smile.

Anonymous said...

What a ghastly, unobservant, cliché-ridden class warrior. When called on her statement about David Davis - did you catch this? - she said, "Well, David Davis looks like a toff!" Well, she looks like a CNDer, which doubtless she is.

Congratulations on not hitting her, Iain! Wotta gent, my darlin'! (I would have said "What a gentleman!", but I thought it might sound a bit posh.)

She is everything I loathe, including the faux no-nonsense hairstyle. Who does she write for? Guardian or BBC? I just wish you'd had another woman on there. That woman who began speaking in German one evening would have dealt with her. Why don't you have the two of them on one night? Tee hee.

Anonymous said...

I agree with Boni about the Conservative Conference. I thought it immediately Eric Pickles opened his mouth.

Daily Referendum said...

Iain I saw this live and it was a cracker. I've got a idea for you that will send the ratings through the roof.

On one of your future programmes invite on: Boni Sones, Yasmin Alibhai Brown and Helen Szamuely. The subjects for discussion should be Law and order, immigration and europe.

Then just sit back and enjoy.

I can't stand to watch Yasmin but it would be entertaining.

(You may need to remove any sharp objects from the studio).

Vienna Woods said...

I found out a bit about the mouthy one. She runs a company called ECS Skillnet media management training – just wouldn’t you know it!

A few snippets from the web site……..
How to deal with the media: TV

This presentation aims to help you cope with a proactive and reactive television interview. It tells you what to expect when a television journalist comes to interview you, what will be required of you, why pictures matter, and how to get your viewpoint across in one or two sound bites.

Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha

Talking to MPs: Establishing links - Parliamentary training

As a highly experienced public sector journalist in print, radio and TV I am often asked to pass on my experience of working with MPs in their constituencies and Westminster to others.
It can be daunting to know where an MP is, whether they would accept your call, what type of issues they would be interested in, and how to engage them in your particular campaign. blah, blah, blah….
It is an easy and essential run through of how to find your way around Westminster if you want to establish and keep links with MPs.

My heavens, do people actually pay her for this? After seeing her performance on the video clip I wouldn’t pay her in washers. As for advice…..!!!!
Oh, and the correspondent who sussed out she had been employed by the BBC was spot-on.

Manfarang said...

Britain a class free society?
Cor Blimey!

Anonymous said...

the traditional idea of class in british soc is dead. society is much more sub- divided now religion, town- country ,career success, race, education, there may well be a tiny elite, especially rather ironically the left wing of the older generation, that still thinks in the old terms but to most people it is a complete irrelevance.

Anonymous said...

I know you were supposed to be having a much needed make over Iain but you really should sack whoever dressed you, either that or get a new light bulb for your bedroom.

Devil's Kitchen said...

I think that is as worked up as I've ever seen you get, Iain!

DK

idle said...

Jeeesus. I'd never heard of BS before and now I can see why. Thick as pigsh*t. BBCer, of course.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the traffic Iain, but I'd rather you debated me on me own views, rather than conflating me with someone else.

Iain Dale said...

If I knew what on earth you were on about, I'd happily respond.

Anonymous said...

You start your post by linking to me, but it's not really about me, it's about someone else entirely. If you want to have a debate on what I said (waiting for a response from you on my blog, by the way), then let's debate what I said, rather than conflating me with someone else.