Quote of the Day

Simon Kuper in the Financial Times on the Oxford domination of Tory politics and a potential resemblance to the Cambridge educated spies of the 50s and 60s:

The Cambridge Five were given roles of responsibility because they possessed elite CVs and came across as archetypal British gentlemen (partly through displays of eccentricity in hairstyles, drink and dress). They pursued their utopia for decades, ignoring all evidence that contradicted it and looking down on the rest of the establishment for its unimaginative thinking. When the spies were finally exposed, British trust in the establishment suffered a lasting dent.

Admittedly, the comparison between the Cambridge and Oxford sets isn't entirely fair: though both betrayed Britain's interests to the benefit of Moscow, the Brexiters didn't mean to.