With the BBC favouring all that is not mainstream pronunciation and making speakers of it figures of fun, or faceless Wikipedia authors asserting that there is no such thing and, anyway, it is not desirable, it remains true that what foreign students want to learn is not Cockney or Scottish pronunciation, but ordinary middle-class pronunciation.

It is to be noted that, when it comes to language, unity is a positive factor and diversity is a negative one, as it is standardisation that enables a language to function. Maybe it is time for a standard English accent target to help to bring reconciliation to the deep divisions in British society. At least, S4 can serve as a yardstick against which other accents can be measured.

The English language is a national treasure for the UK, worth more than North Sea Oil ever was. It deserves to be protected and nurtured, not cast away in spite and self-righteousness.

Pronunciation of English should be taught in UK schools as a subject in its own right as part of oracy.