Justin Webb, a prominent BBC interviewer, said today that people in the middle class should quit finding reasons why they don’t belong in the working class.
Webb, who conducts Radio 4’s Today program, believes that people in the middle class shouldn’t have to explain or justify their behavior.
He said that the issue was merely a “fact of life,” warning that the BBC would be in risk of falling into a “awful trap” if he tried to “campaign against listeners.”
When questioned at The Times and The Sunday Times Cheltenham Literature Festival why Today was so middle class, he said, “I don’t feel there’s anything wrong with being middle class.”
“I think we’ll fall into a terrible trap if we run a campaign against either those who listen or those who pay the licensing fee.
“I can’t fathom I’m anything other than upper middle class,” she added. “My mother told me I’m that because she’s looking down on me from somewhere.”
In his book The Gift of Radio: My Childhood and Other Train Wrecks, Webb described his tumultuous upbringing, which included a mother who steadfastly maintained her middle-class status while being penniless after losing her job.
He addressed the Cheltenham audience, “Being middle class brings in some nice things. As my mother’s story shows, it also produces odd results.
Last week, Webb and his BBC coworker Amol Rajan got into a verbal confrontation when Webb claimed that there was a “accent discrimination” against broadcasters with “posh accents.”
Only 10% of British individuals, compared to 70% of newscasters, speak what is known as “received pronunciation,” according to Rajan.
In response, Michael Deacon, a writer for the Daily Telegraph, called Rajan’s position “crazy” and attributed it to “inverted snobbery.”
He also poked fun of Cambridge graduate Rajan’s several responsibilities at the BBC, saying that the BBC’s “stuffed to the gills with Oxbridge graduates” is a bigger diversity issue.
In a now-deleted tweet, Webb referred to Deacon’s piece, saying, “Ha ha such a great post from @MichaelPDeacon – in which he skewers the oddness of guys pickled in punting telling us who’s in charge and who isn’t.”
He said, “Speaking in a way that people can comprehend is not classism,” for heavens’ sake.
Webb attended the LSE, while Rajan attended Downing College in Cambridge, something that Webb also underlined online.
In a later-deleted tweet, Webb wrote: “The oddness of guys pickled in punting telling us who’s in charge and who isn’t.”
Webb reaffirmed his support for RP in a speech he gave at the Henley Literary Festival last week.
“So my discussion with Amol — I wouldn’t quite go so far as to say I want to give the guy elocution courses — but I do think there is a basic need to be understood,” he said. “Because I feel Amol is on the up and I am on the down when it comes to that.”
He stated, “Regional accents obviously don’t concern me. Accents don’t bother me. But it’s crucial for all of us to want to be understood and interact with others without alienating them.