20 JULY 2002, Page 55

Q. I have been watching Big Brother and cannot understand

why Tim should be so unpopular, purely on the grounds that he is

'posh'. He does not seem that posh to me but, even if he were, is it now a crime in England to be posh, Mary?

R. R.. Harrogate, Yorkshire A. To everything there is a season, and just as it was once a social disadvantage to be unposh, the tables have now turned and it is a social disadvantage to be posh. Only in public, however. Naturally, the posh court the contempt of the mob if they appear on telly, but they can still enjoy all the concomitants of being posh behind closed doors. I might add that even if the English gentleman is despised at home, he still receives a rapturous reception in almost every' other country.