Daily Archives: 28/09/2011

The Labour leader Ed Milliband was on the lunchtime news just now, speaking from the party conference. Because it was a prepared speech, his cultured English was punctuated by entirely gratuitous and hugely annoying  glottal stops. Now I’m not averse to this regional variation, it being common from my childhood in the ghettoes of Guildford. But those of who went to Grammar School soon lost it with most of the rest of the patois. When I use it (not infrequently) it is part of a complete linguistic package, not grafted willy nilly on to Received Pronounciation. Milliband forgets to do it when he’s answering questions.