If you’re eager to be seen as a superior class of person, therefore, you need to express the opinions that the superior class of people invariably hold. As a consequence, our opinions have come to define us – and to determine our social status. Social media, to which everyone under the age of 50 has become incurably addicted, is a mode of communication based almost entirely on the sharing, applauding and denigrating of opinions. It’s an inevitable outcome of the digital age. Instead of their vocabulary, people are now classified according to their opinions. All that’s changed is the way status is gauged. But that doesn’t mean our society has become any less obsessed with status. These particular distinctions matter little today. Common people said “settee” posh people said “sofa”. Common people said “toilet” posh people said “loo”. Common people said “serviette” posh people said “napkin”. In the 1950s, Nancy Mitford compiled a list of words that indicated whether their user was common or posh. But it wasn’t just your accent that gave you away. In the past, people could instantly tell what class you belonged to by listening to the way you spoke.

I think it’s got much more to do with class. In most cases, though, I don’t think it’s got anything to do with race. Many people on the Right suspect that liberals who criticise Israel are anti-Semitic.

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