Slumming it for class warfare

Location, Location, Location presenter Kirstie Allsopp recently incurred the wrath of sancti mommies everywhere when she revealed that she and her husband turn left when they board an airplane, while their two children (Bay, 12, and Oscar, 10) turn right.

“When we fly as a family, the boys do fly separately from Ben and me if we’re not in economy together,” she explained. “Obviously this wasn’t the case when they were little, but now they are big enough to sit separately, they do... Club Class should be a huge treat you’ve worked hard for.”

This seems perfectly reasonable. Pre-teens aren’t tall enough to struggle with leg room, nor are their palates sophisticated enough to appreciate the complex flavours of foie gras and wagyu sirloin.

Besides, a flight is one of the few times that parents can enjoy peace and quiet, so why not make the most of the experience if you’ve worked hard enough to afford the trappings of first class air travel?

This was the very point TV chef Gordon Ramsay made when he revealed that he and his wife travel first class, while their four children travel economy. “I do not want them sat there with a 10 course f***ing menu with champagne,” he said in a tirade that had the santi mommies reaching for their smelling salts.

There was a time when Allsopp and Ramsay’s parenting choices were standard practice. Nowadays, in the era of childcentred parenting, there’s a strong cohort of mums and dads who couldn’t imagine depriving their child of the latest technology, the most diverse extracurricular activities and the best seats on the airplane. Perish the thought that they might think about themselves for once...