Julie Burchill Julie Burchill

Chavs of Britain, unite!

Paige Bond is an attractive blonde lady of a certain age – thrillingly, the Evening Standard claimed that she was both 48 and 57 in the same report. As far as one can judge from photographs, she looks lively and confident, so I imagine she was irked to say the least when after applying for a job with an organic grocers, Forest Whole Foods of Hampshire, she mistakenly received an email from one employee of the company to another summing her up in terms which are all too typical of the sort of snoot who believes that espousing over-priced organic food is yet another handy way of looking down on one’s fellow humans – like being a ‘traveller’ rather than a tourist, or voting Remain rather than Leave.

One ‘Josie Bickle’ had a look at Miss Bond’s Facebook page and concluded that ‘She is probably worth interviewing if you think you can cope with having someone like her around…would lift spirits in the packing room…slightly irritating…I bet her voice is REALLY irritating…chavvy.’ Miss Bond responded with admirable amour propre, as befitting one with her frankly magnificent ‘rack’ (again, judging from her social media snaps) telling the Sun: ‘I’m quite glamorous and, yes, I have big boobs but how can they judge me on that? I enjoy a selfie, but if I’m being judged on this, it’s disgusting. It’s humiliating and totally wrong.’ And then she goes and spoils it all by saying something stupid like ‘The last thing I am is a chav…’

How my heart sinks whenever I read this dismaying disclaimer. Black American rappers regularly use the vile N-word to each other – as well as the bracing ‘bitch’  and ‘ho’ of their lady-loves – as a questionable way of removing the slave-owning sting from it.

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