Tony Hinkins (Letters, 6 November) is right to point out that “the elite” against whom wealthy Brexiters and Conservatives declaim is the intellectual elite, rather than the economic and social elites to which they themselves belong. This is the rich protesting against reasoned debate.
Given that rich rightwing elites have most of the written media on their side, it’s rich in a different sense that they claim to be oppressed by us financially poorer leftwing intellectuals. The repeated focus on the allegedly improper influence of the intellectual elite, rather than engaging with the evidence-based arguments about international cooperation, climate change, public services and inequality, demonstrates their lack of self-confidence in defending their own interests.
William Wallace
Lib Dem, House of Lords
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