Working-Class People Can Like Opera Too, You Know

Brother Korski is right to draw attention to Rachel Sylvester’s interview (£) with Unite’s Len McCluskey and right too to note that his defence of Castro’s island gulag* is indefensible. But there’s more that’s wrong with it than that and not all of that is McCluskey’s fault. Consider these lines:

He would choose tea and scones at Fortnum and Mason over beer and sandwiches in a smoke-filled room. He is a fan of the romantic poets — “I love Byron, Keats and Shelley, I’m a romantic at heart” — and takes a feminist interpretation of Christina Rossetti.

He is a theatre aficionado — “I do like Shakespeare, I’ve probably seen A Midsummer Night’s Dream two dozen times” — and an opera buff — “Oh yes, I’ve been to Glyndbourne.”

When he is not visiting French vineyards — “St Emilion is my favourite wine and such a beautiful village” — he can be found looking around art galleries.