'It is indeed possible for a middle-class person to traverse the entire length of a blameless life without seriously engaging with a current member of the lower classes (although he or she may well meet plenty of upward acheivers from modest origins). In some senses, the bottom class in England is more socially isolated than ever before in history. The exceptional visitations from the middle classes in a therapeutic role - as doctor or social worker or divorce lawyer - only serve to emphasise that isolation.'
Ferdinand Mount, Mind the Gap, p.100.
