Thursday, January 5, 2023

The hypocrisy of England

Playwright Alan Bennett chooses ‘hypocrisy’ as Britain’s best achievement

 

Alan Bennett is never a man to mince his words and when asked by BBC Radio 4’s World at One to choose what Britain excelled at as part of their fiftieth anniversary, he decided it was hypocrisy.

 

hypocrisy
Alan Bennett with Martha Kearney

 

In interview with the programme’s Martha Kearney, Bennett remarked:

 

“I thought, why not Swaledale? Or medieval churches. Or even, with all its shortcomings, the National Trust. But what I think we are best at in England – I do not say Britain – what I think we are best at in England, better than all the rest, is hypocrisy”.

 

“Take London; we extol its beauty and its dignity while at the same time we’re happy to sell it off to the highest bidder. Or highest builder”.

 

“We glory in Shakespeare yet we close our public libraries”.

 

“A substantial minority of our children receive a better education than the rest because of the social situation of the parents. Then we wonder why things at the top do not change or society improve. But we know why. It’s because we are hypocrites”.

 

“Our policemen are wonderful, provided you’re white and middle class and don’t take to the streets. And dying in custody is what happens in South America. It doesn’t happen here”.

 

“And it gets into the language. We think irony very English and are rather proud of it. But in literary terms it’s how we have it both ways. A refined hypocrisy”.

 

“And in language these days, words which start off as good and meaningful, terms like environment and energy saving, rapidly lose any credence because converted into political or PR slogans, ending up the clichéd stuff of an estate agents’ brochure. A manual for hypocrisy”.

 

“A memorable phrase in Hamlet, and one of the few that hasn’t been picked up as a quotation or a title for something else, is when Claudius is arranging for Hamlet to be arrested and executed when he gets to our shores. And in his letter he says; ‘Do it England’. And we say we do it, or we’re going to do it, but we don’t. Scotland does it. And Wales. But not England”.

 

“In England, what we do best is lip service. And before you stampede for the Basildon bond or rather skitter for the Twitter I must say that I don’t exempt myself from these strictures. How should I? I am English, I am a hypocrite”.

 

Bennett has a point and though some, such as The Telegraph’s Michael Henderson, have taken him to task for being “crotchety”, the fact that he even finds himself guilty of hypocrisy yet again shows him to be an apt observer.

 

 

Subscribe to our free once daily email newsletter here:

     

    The Steeple Times
    The Steeple Times
    We research and background check our articles. If you believe we have made and error in some detail please get in touch, we seek always to write the truth and stand against a press owned by a self selected few. Please help us, we will accept all your likes, subscriptions and anonymous suport. The Editor and his team at the Steeple Times.

    1 COMMENT

    LEAVE A REPLY

    Please enter your comment!
    Please enter your name here

    £1 per week Supports The Steeple Times

    Help journalism to remain honest & independent. You can make a difference to the world today.

    3,094FansLike
    2,068FollowersFollow
    14,757FollowersFollow
    4,962SubscribersSubscribe

    Subscribe For DAILY NEWS

    Please subscribe, like and share this unique site, it helps us tremendously. The Steeple Times in return will send you an email at noon each and everyday, that we sincerely hope you will enjoy & look forward to seeing in your inbox.

    AD
    Advertisement

    Trending Now

    Down The Rancid Rabbit Hole – Ghislaine Maxwell Saga Widens

    A year on from her conviction, the rabbit hole that is the story of Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein and their victims widens with new lawsuits on the horizon and new troubles for Prince Andrew also.

    Crypto Crook’s Big Short – Will Sam Bankman-Fried Story Be Turned Into Blockbuster?

    Crypto crook Sam Bankman-Fried astonishingly gets to hang out with the author of ‘The Big Short’ in spite of being on £207 million bail and now has not only Ghislaine Maxwell’s lawyer onside but also Prince Andrew’s judge to face also.

    Most Popular Articles

    Justice for James Scurlock

    Power of social media proven after senseless killing of James Scurlock in Omaha, Nebraska allegedly by a controversial bar owner named Jake Gardner who has been photographed with Donald Trump.

    Scobie Orf!

    ‘MeGain’s’ bestie Omid Scobie deservedly gets slammed by ‘Yankee Wally’ Sadie Quinlan for getting her shut down on Twitter; this childish chap should now just ‘belt up, wrap up and shut up.’

    A Massive Media Maelstrom – McCann, Mandelson and Maxwell

    Matthew Steeples highlights how the ‘Mandelson Media Method’ is very much in play in both the case of the Prince Andrew-Jeffrey Epstein connection and the renewed interest in the Madeleine McCann disappearance.

    The Phil & Matt Show

    Phillip Schofield filmed smoking shisha with his alleged ex-lover Matt McGreevy (and pictured in bed thereafter); another image shows the pair together in photograph...

    Plane Perverted

    EXCLUSIVE – Previously unnamed 9-year-old child pictured on the lap of Jeffrey Epstein on his plane in ‘Daily Mail’ suggested to be daughter of billionaire Glenn Dubin.

    Moron of the Moment 2021 – Richard Madeley

    As the new Diana, Princess of Wales statue is mocked as looking like him, ‘Dorian Gray of Daytime Telly’ Richard Madeley pathetically claims he got PTSD due to worrying about his son’s wedding.

    Most Liked...

    Was Mucky Minx Meghan Markle A ‘Yacht Girl’ For ‘Randy Andy’?

    Was Meghan Markle A ‘Yacht Girl’ For ‘Randy Andy’?
    As author Kirby Sommers suggests that the then Meghan Markle likely spent time with Prince Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein before she met Prince Harry, we again highlight the mucky, murkiness and mendacious manner of this alleged “yacht girl.”

    Ampika Pickston

    Ampika Pickston
    Oldham born divorcee and former glamour model Ampika Pickston describes herself as “feisty, fun loving and warm hearted”. Now based in Hale Barns, Cheshire...

    Organic Vegetable Maxwell – Rotten-To-Her-Core Ghislaine Maxwell Moves Jail

    Organic Vegetable Maxwell – Ghislaine Maxwell Moves Jail
    As mucky madam Ghislaine Maxwell is moved to a low security prison in Florida where prisoners will supposedly likely “hate” her, PR peddler Jay Beecher’s ‘The Maxwell Files’ website bizarrely starts promoting organic vegetables in Sussex and lists stories about this anything but wholesome criminal as “recipes.”

    Shock Horror (Not)! MPs Engaged in “Sex & Heavy Drinking” On...

    Shock Horror (Not)! MPs Engaged in “Sex & Heavy Drinking” On Trips Abroad
    That that ‘The Guardian’ is shocked by news that MPs – mostly Tories, it seems – “engaged in ‘sex and heavy drinking’ on trips abroad” is actually beyond bloody laughable.

    Hacked Off Piers! Piers Morgan’s Twitter Infiltrated

    Hacked Off Piers Morgan Hugh Grant
    As Piers Morgan gets hacked on Twitter, we remind readers of his ongoing spat with the especially ‘Hacked Off’ actor Hugh Grant.