A common tactic for politicians and commentators on the left is to assail coalition ministers for their privileged backgrounds. There has been a plethora of references to the Bullingdon Club, Old Etonians, “cabinet of millionaires”, “posh boys” and “Tory toffs” since Messrs Cameron, Clegg and Osborne took office in May 2010. Speaking in the Commons earlier this week, Labour MP Dennis Skinner accused Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt of sacking his “servant” (i.e. special adviser Adam Smith).
Now, you could dismiss such rhetoric as “class war” or the politics of “envy” – in the way that multimillionaire Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has, across the pond, when faced with attacks on his “silver spoon” from Barack Obama and the Democrats.
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