Howard said: "Nowadays there is a huge overlap in income between working class and middle class, and likewise an overlap in lifestyle - many working class people now own a house, a car, the latest HD telly, dress smartly and take foreign holidays. The distinctions have become blurred, which is why sociologists have such difficulty categorising society and politicians have such trouble trying to identify their natural supporters."

Exactly! There simply isn't a neatly definable division between so-called working and middle class social groups. Is it any wonder that political parties are desperately clawing for the centre ground? They know that the age of lifelong Labour or Tory voters is almost finished.

Jack wrote "As a marxist I am all for the abolition of the class system, but it's kept alive by those with a vested interest"

And "those with a vested interest" would be almost all of us, to some extent. Or do we really believe that invisible fingers mould palaces of gold?

Pecking orders are just a fact of life, aren't they? Not necessarily the malign ones of yore that kept oiks in their place; just look at the folk scene. It's admirable that guest singers are so approachable and don't put on airs, but I've met so many floor & resident singers/musicians who have an extremely strong view about their own talent and about the relative ability of their peers. It has genuinely surprised me when otherwise affable folkies become positively vitriolic about others "getting above themselves".