As ever, the Sun ‘newspaper’ had its finger on the nation’s pulse this morning. Somehow, there was no space on the front page to include details of the minor events happening in Madrid, where politicians decided to not do very much about climate change. Nothing, either, about the growing epidemic of homelessness and poverty. Instead, Rupert Murdoch’s sagging organ led on the vital news that someone called Tamara Ecclestone had been robbed of £50 million of jewellery.
Shocking though it is that anyone be victim of a burglary – and to that end, I offer sympathy to Ms Ecclestone and hope she is insured – but I am not convinced people living miserable lives in this broken and divided country, many of whom own nothing worth stealing and even if they did couldn’t afford insurance premiums, will be crying over their cornflakes.
Her main job appears to be that of heiress to the fortunes of her father, Bernie Ecclestone, who used to run the Formula 1 motor car procession. She is also, I read, a reality TV star and a ‘model’ whose career high appears to have been removing her clothing to appear in Playboy magazine.
Quite why anyone needs £50 million of jewellery is beyond me. I have a gold chain and a small golden earring (not the popular Dutch beat combo outfit, I hasten to add) but that’s it. But it just goes to show how lucrative the TV reality show and nude modelling markets must be.
I imagine Ms Ecclestone is feeling extremely shaken today and will feel blessed that she still has a home that cost some £45 million. I am guessing this is the normal price of a house in Kensington Palace Gardens so let’s not quibble with that.
I hope no damage has come to her house because that would be very sad, especially since she moved in 2011, she has spent heavily from her savings to install an Amazonian crystal bathtub, a private nightclub, a bowling alley, a subterranean swimming pool, a beauty salon, a dog spa and a car lift. All of which brings me back to my main point: what on earth is going on with our country?
Just last week, the Sun was telling its readers, who are by and large from the working classes, that they must vote for an old Etonian multimillionaire Bullingdon Club boy and today they are informing their readers that a filthy rich daughter of someone even more filthily rich has had jewellery nicked from her house. And the reason they have splashed with this story is because they understand their readers who really do want to read this stuff.
More than that, it tells you about our priorities. We are fascinated by obscene wealth and are happy to look the other way when an old soldier is living in a cardboard box. We see nothing wrong with four million children going hungry but we are concerned for a woman who has had some expensive bangles stolen.
This is not just broken Britain: it’s brain dead Britain. Hard luck, Tamara, and all that, but I don’t expect you will be knocking on the door of your local food bank tomorrow.
