I spent 3 days at Royal Ascot - Britain is broken for one reason
I spent 3 days at Royal Ascot and now I know why Britain is broken
OPINION - CONOR WILSON: Royal Ascot welcomes hundreds of thousands of people each year, including the cream of British high society.
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Add us as preferred source Comments OPINION By Conor Wilson, News Reporter 08:21, Sat, Jun 20, 2026 
As contrasting Tuesdays go, I am not sure I have ever experienced two so different. Last week, my Tuesday was spent in the midst of a mob on the Shankill Road in Belfast as they torched houses with children inside under some loose pretext of protecting women and girls.
The following week, I found myself in the midst of a different mob, this one wearing morning dress and top hats as they welcomed the Royal Family to Royal Ascot. There is much separating Belfast from Ascot. In the most literal sense, 310 miles and a £648,000 gulf in average house prices lie between them. But the distance is cultural as well as geographical. In one place, roads are closed, and shops pull down their shutters early in anticipation of violence. In the other, the day’s inconveniences amount to a queue at the bar, a jug of Pimm’s that is not quite cold enough or a longer-than-expected walk to the taxi rank.
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Yet with all that said, as I reflected on my week in Belfast from the opulence of the Royal Enclosure at Ascot, it seemed that the link between the two places was not as tenuous as it might first appear.
The six-storey Ascot grandstand dominates the racecourse, its balconies offering commanding views of the track and surrounding countryside.
To stand beneath it, looking up at terraces crowded with the who’s who of British society, is to feel like a third-class passenger gazing towards the first-class decks of the Titanic, a ship proudly built by the working class of Belfast for the enjoyment of the aristocracy.
It is an event where it is hard not to reflect on class. It is an event where it is hard not to reflect on class as regional accents and cheap suits walk beside Lords and millionaires. Royal Ascot is one of the few places where Britain’s class system is not merely visible but colour-coded, badged and divided by enclosure.
In very few settings would these people ever come together, but at Ascot, they do, separated mainly by the standard of their dress. For some, there is a novelty in dressing up smart, one that breeds an excited energy on the faces of those for whom a trip to the races is a special day out.
For others, their top hat and morning dress are worn as a shield designed to protect them from the ignominy of being mistaken for anything other than upper-class and part of London’s elite.
The inequality is striking. Of course, it is masked, as is the modern way, as Britain attempts to pretend that the importance of class has faded, when in reality the class structure still permeates much of how we live.
But it is there nonetheless. And with Belfast so clearly in my mind, I can’t help but feel that it is the inequality so demonstrably on display at the event that is the fuel behind the disorder we saw last week.
According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the richest fifth in the UK has 5.6 times as much disposable income as the poorest fifth.
As of last year, the wealthiest 10% of households own 41% of Britain’s household wealth, and you could bet your bottom dollar that a significant number of that 10% are at the Royal Ascot this week.
Having reported extensively on the asylum crisis and immigration, it is my experience that much of the anger about the system stems from those working tirelessly, struggling to make ends meet, whilst feeling like others are feeding off the state unfairly.
These are genuine concerns that are often compounded by misinformation about freebies and undeserved leg-ups.
In Belfast last week, inequality was on full display, as it was at Royal Ascot this week. Shops were shut, houses were run-down, and those able to find work felt their earnings no longer stretched as far as they once did.
None of that excuses violence. Poverty does not turn people into rioters, nor does hardship absolve those who attack homes, police officers or businesses.
But deprivation, insecurity and the belief that society is rigged against you can create the resentment in which extremism flourishes. They shorten the fuse, and immigration then becomes the spark, or the convenient target.
Immigration is a serious issue that requires a meaningful, strategic approach, but it cannot be dealt with in isolation.
A country in which wealth, opportunity and security are concentrated on the upper decks cannot be surprised when anger grows below. Inequality and poverty - what we have come to accept as normal - must also be dealt with if we are to put the great back into Great Britain.
Badenoch blasts 'moaning' female Labour MPs over Burnham jobs 'quota'
Kemi Badenoch has told Labour women to earn a job in Andy Burnham's Cabinet instead of demanding they are handed jobs because of their gender.
The Tory leader lashed out today amid reports that female MPs are demanding the de-facto new prime minister introduce a 50:50 gender split 'quota' in his government.
Amid reports that former foreign secretary David Miliband is being lined up to return to the role, possibly with his brother Ed as Chancellor, one female minister also complained that Burnham could not have 'more Milibands than women' in the top posts.
But in a scathing article in the Times today Mrs Badenoch told them to 'stop moaning' and get chosen on merit instead of retreating into 'more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country'.
'There are many, many reasons why you shouldn't have any Milibands in the cabinet,' she said.
'But complaining that the boys haven't given them the right jobs or that the boys are taking all the jobs, just shows that Labour's women still don't get it.'
The idea of quotas was also attacked by Baroness Jacqui Smith, Labour's Skills Minister.
Asked by Times Radio if Mr Burnham should reserve jobs for women, she said: 'No, I think what Andy Burnham should be doing is building the very best team around him to change this country.'
A letter written by the Women's Parliamentary Labour Party has called on Mr Burnham to ensure a 50:50 split between men and women in government jobs
Amid reports that former foreign secretary David Miliband (above, right, in 2010) is being lined up to return to the role, possibly with his brother Ed as Chancellor, one female minister complained that Burnham could not have 'more Milibands than women' in the top posts
But Mrs Badenoch told them to pipe down and get chosen on merit instead of retreating into 'more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country'
A letter written by the Women's Parliamentary Labour Party and seen by the BBC has called on Mr Burnham to ensure a 50:50 split between men and women in government jobs after he succeeds Sir Keir Starmer.
'We are asking you to demonstrate this change from day one and address the toxicity and misogyny within our own party and government,' it said.
Labour has never had a female leader, while the Conservatives have had three, and Mrs Badenoch urged the government to follow its meritocratic example.
'If you run a meritocracy, then you do not have to worry about jobs for the boys,' she wrote.
'Every woman who is a Conservative MP, every woman who has ever won the leadership, has had to fight to get where she is.
'By contrast, Labour women are demanding guarantees from Burnham. But the truth is he doesn't have to give any guarantees.
'If none of Labour's women are prepared to get their hands dirty and challenge him for the leadership, their demands are toothless.'
'In fact, it's quite revealing that the women's parliamentary Labour Party has written to Burnham asking him to commit himself to at least 50 per cent female ministers.
'This has nothing to do with meritocracy. It is yet more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country.'
