The topic of education fits neatly into the orientalist middle class rhetoric about the poor, ignoring its role as an instrument of class power and domination in an autocratic country like Egypt.
In a country where sectarian issues were ruthlessly suppressed for many decades, and where “instigating sectarian tensions” was a blanket accusation against all political dissidents, every intellectual suddenly has an opinion. The growing corpus of analysis and debate over the issue is startling.
Whether it's class, culture or intergenerational fairness, Britain's political class struggle to talk about social mobility in a coherent or realistic manner. It's a problem we urgently need to fix.
Class remains by nature vague and ill-defined, one of society's necessary mythologies. Class is defined not by a lowly start, nor money nor region, but ultimately as attitude, confidence and absorbed rather than learned values.
While Labour represent the working class, they have become increasingly alienated by those who represent them in parliament and in the public eye. It's time to be honest about where we come from.
