This week it went mainstream due to Marcus Rashford, but where did it come from?

The conservative writer James Bartholomew was standing on an escalator in the Kensington branch of Whole Foods in 2015, trying to think of a phrase for people who, he felt, projected their values publicly rather than quietly putting them into practice. That was when the phrase “virtue signalling” popped into his head.

“I felt there were people who felt very proud of themselves but had done nothing but say ‘racism is awful’, or had voted Labour and thought they were virtuous,” he said, reflecting on the phrase. He said he felt real virtue was represented by a friend who spent five years diligently caring for her ill husband, rather than people who posted about their politics online: “It indicated a certain vanity and boasting.”

Continue reading…

You May Also Like

Imagine the culture war the 2012 Olympic opening ceremony would spark now | Charlotte Higgins

Danny Boyle’s extravaganza burnished what was best about the UK, but the…

Amnesty calls for Prevent strategy to be abolished over ‘human rights abuses’

Exclusive: Group accuses programme of encouraging ‘thought policing’ and being incompatible with…

Woman arrested over death of five-year-old boy in Coventry

Police confirm woman was known to family of boy, who was found…

Two dead and more than 20 injured in Florida banquet hall shooting

Three people open fire indiscriminately on concert crowd Police lament ‘despicable act…