An Uneasy Inheritance by Polly Toynbee review – living up to high ideals

Another title for this enthralling family memoir might be the “would-be-goods”. The phrase was coined by E Nesbit of Railway Children fame, who was also a co-founder of the Fabian Society, but it perfectly encapsulates the middle-class liberal-left tradition that Guardian columnist Polly Toynbee can trace back through her family for generations. As well as her parents and grandparents there are cousins and great-aunts, all educated, clever, public service-oriented men and women anguishing over a set of subjects that have only become more urgent in recent years: low pay, environmental harm, colonial appropriation and, most pertinently here, the way that social stagnation props up the political status quo.

This makes Toynbee singular and perhaps Toynbees plural sound smug, but nothing could be further from the truth. In her laceratingly honest and often funny book she illustrates how “to live on the left side is to live with inevitable hypocrisy and painful self-awareness, with good intentions forever destined to fall short of ideals, social concern never enough”.

The hero of the story is not a famous Toynbee – not the one after whom Toynbee Hall is named, nor the one who was a world-famous liberal historian, nor the one who was a novelist and Observer journalist – but Harry Valpy Toynbee, an unsung Edwardian. In 1905 he was employed to work on the Royal Commission on the Poor Laws and Relief of Distress. He started as an old-fashioned liberal who believed in giving small handouts to the deserving poor to get them back on their feet. Increasingly, though, he aligned with social reformers Beatrice Webb and George Lansbury, who argued that economic and social dysfunction could not be solved at an individual level but required state intervention. The stress of juggling these contradictory yet adjacent positions led Harry Toynbee to a mental breakdown.

Polly Toynbee knew vaguely about her great-grandfather’s sad story but was horrified to discover recently that he lived for nearly 40 years in an asylum, muttering self-recriminations – “silly fool” – and dying a few years before she was born in 1946. She sees in Harry’s mental struggle an acting out of the damaging split between liberal and socialist positions that bedevilled the British left for generations, allowing the right to remain in power. And she should know. In 1983 she stood as a candidate for the newly formed Social Democratic party, something which would have made her communist father turn in his grave.

From here the tales of family dysfunction escalate. There’s Harry’s son Arnold, the historian, who marries a ghastly woman who mocked his earnest ways: the would-be-goods, being so unworldly, tend not to be good pickers. Arnold’s bride Rosalind was the granddaughter of the countess of Carlisle, a radically inclined aristocrat who took care to offset any suggestions of moral backsliding by decanting the contents of Castle Howard’s wine cellar into the lake. It was this joyless teetotalism that Toynbee believes accounts for the many alcoholics in the family, including her father, Philip, the Observer journalist.

And then there is Polly herself, on whom she sheds a fierce, forensic light. What she finds is the inherited good fortune that takes the form of confidence and connections rather than thousands of acres or millions in the bank. It was this that allowed her to spectacularly mess up her education (11-plus and O-level failure, Oxford dropout) and yet eventually emerge with a well-paid career as a journalist specialising, by and large, in other people’s misfortune.

Toynbee wants us to understand that she enjoyed second and third chances that would not have been open to someone from a different class background. Worse still is the fact that things are no better today, indeed are getting worse. She has the figures to show that the social mobility lift is stuck at ground level and the gap between rich and poor is widening. Despite various Toynbees’ efforts, individual action will not fix this. What’s needed now, she insists, is for the political class to find the will to stop this poisonous heirloom being handed down to yet another generation.

An Uneasy Inheritance: My Family and Other Radicals by Polly Toynbee is published by Atlantic. To support the Guardian and Observer order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply.

‘Mayans M.C.’ Season 5 Episode 3 Recap: “Do You Hear the Rain”

Season five episode three of FX’s Mayans M.C. begins with an intense scene, as Santo Padre raids a Lobos cartel cookhouse and steals their supplies. Episode two ended with the key players in the pipeline identified and EZ declaring his intention to take down the Lobos cartel. Now, EZ is taking action to make his plan a reality.

The cartel’s cook is missing, and Angel (Clayton Cardenas) searches the house, motioning for a young boy watching from a nearby window to get down and be quiet. Barking dogs lead Angel outside where he hears coughing and locates the terrified cook. Although he holds the man briefly at gunpoint, he returns to Santo Padre’s van and claims he couldn’t find anyone. EZ (JD Pardo) seems ready to question his bro, but they’re under a time crunch and need to get out of there in the next two minutes.

With just a minute left, another Mayan brings the man out and he’s tossed into the back of their van.

Checking in with the Galindo family finds Emily (Sarah Bolger) taking Cristobal grocery shopping under the supervision of one of Miguel’s men and a nanny. Once inside the store, Emily sends them off to fetch items and then counts the seconds as she rolls a shopping cart toward an exit. They return before she makes it to the door, and the shopping continues.

Meanwhile, Marcus Alvarez (Emilio Rivera) seems to be disengaged from life. He’s not interested in his children and pays little attention when his daughter shares details about her school life. She finally tells him he’s missing it. When he asks what “it” is, she responds with a simple yet poignant answer, “Everything.”

Back at the clubhouse, EZ questions the cook and learns his name is Elio. Elio makes eye contact with Angel, but Angel quickly looks away as EZ orders Elio to cook for Santo Padre. Elio claims he’s only an assistant, and EZ holds up a photo of his wife and kids. If he cooks for Santo Padre, then he can return to them a rich man.

EZ orders Bottles the prospect (Alex Barone) to stay with Elio and do anything he asks.

Angel hangs back after EZ leaves and glances at Elio as he holds the photo of his family and sobs. Now that Angel has a son, anything to do with family really affects him.

Felipe (Edward James Olmos) smiles as he looks at his recent photos of Angel, Adelita, and Maverick. He’s going through his box of memories and pulls out a photo of Miguel as a happy child in 1987.

The “family” theme continues with Miguel (Danny Pino) helping Cristobel work on his bicycle. Felipe interrupts the father-and-son moment to deliver letters written years ago by Miguel’s mom, Dita. She wanted Felipe and Miguel to know each other. Miguel doesn’t mince words, telling Felipe he has no intention of bonding with him. He reiterates that he never wants to see Felipe again and threatens to kill him if he comes back.

Felipe leaves the stack of letters and drives away while Emily watches from an upstairs window.

Back at the clubhouse, Elio sets up a cook station in the garage with Bottles watching his every move and assisting as needed. Bottles places a barricade spraypainted with the message “If you enter, you die,” outside and then lowers the garage door, as Elio gets down to business.

A short while later, Bishop (Michael Irby) emerges from the clubhouse to find Bottles and Elio kicking it, eating chips outside the garage. Angel stops Bishop to get his advice on how to keep both of his worlds – his family and the club – from bleeding into each other. Bishop confesses that if he could go back in time, he’d hold his son tight and get the hell out of Santo Padre. “Be a f**king janitor somewhere if I had to,” adds Bishop. “Be whatever I had to be, just to be a dad.”

In an incredibly honest moment, Bishop admits he’s only with the club because he doesn’t have anything else.

EZ visits Emily in the park, and Emily won’t tell him where she’s been. She doesn’t answer when he asks if she’s back with Miguel or if she’s safe. She reminds him the last time they were in this park, they were in high school, he’d been accepted to college, and they had their lives ahead of them.

Emily thinks it feels like yesterday, but EZ believes it feels like that was a million years ago.

Emily has one final request and she’ll never, ever ask for anything else. She needs an untraceable car that won’t be noticed. It needs it to be parked outside the Food for Cheap right outside the service exit. He agrees, and Emily makes him promise he’ll be okay. EZ asks her to do so first, and then walks away without making any promises.

The Mayans Oakland president, Diaz, visits Marcus and they drink and laugh while talking about their past exploits. Marcus thinks things were simpler back then, but Diaz believes that’s only because it’s in the rearview. Diaz confirms Oakland isn’t going to get involved in the war. He tells Marcus to forget about all that and just take care of his family. “Leave the dying to the rest of us,” says Diaz.

Night’s fallen when Miguel picks up the stack of letters Felipe dropped off. He holds the photo Felipe looked at earlier and another photo showing him with the Reyes brothers as kids.

The guys are hanging out at the Santo Padre clubhouse when Bottles rushes in and turns off the music. Now that he’s got their attention, Elio pulls out a brick of heroin they just made that’s worth 100,000 US dollars. Plus, they have enough of the stolen supplies left to make another one.

EZ gives the go-ahead to cook another brick.

Business over, Angel returns home and feeds Maverick dinner, while Maverick returns the favor and stuffs pasta into his dad’s mouth. It’s obvious Angel’s madly, deeply in love with his son, and he promises to never let anything happen to him.

Angel’s phone is on silent and he misses EZ’s call.

Bishop’s had a helluva day and he knocks on Maggie’s door late at night, unexpected but not unwelcome. He asks if he can stay, confesses he needs something good in his life, and promises not to screw up their relationship. After a passionate kiss, Maggie (Presciliana Esparolini) agrees and takes his hand as they walk inside.

Jess (Grace Rizzo), who’s been flirting with Nestor and seems genuinely interested in him, has dinner with her sister, Jazmine. Suddenly, SAMDINO’s VP Terry (Greg Vrotsos) strolls in and demands to know where the Mayans are storing the guns they stole from SoA. Jess refuses to tell him and wants nothing to do with Terry or SoA; she’s firmly back in the fold with Santo Padre. Terry grabs her by the neck and holds her off the floor, and still Jess gives nothing away.

Jazmine’s still with Terry but it’s Jess she sides with, hitting him in the head hard enough to make him let go of Jess. Jazmine hits him again and Terry’s hurt and bleeding, but still dangerous. Suddenly, he starts sobbing and confesses he’s screwed. He’s come to realize Isaac is psycho (you think?!) and knows he’s now a target of SoA Bernardino’s president’s rage. If he doesn’t get the guns back, Isaac will kill him.

Terry admits Isaac is out of control but most of the club still supports him. “It’s going to get bad,” says Terry. (Will this fracture in SAMDINO provide the Mayans with the opportunity to get the upper hand?)

Cole (Branton Box) meets with EZ and Angel, and EZ proposes that Cole’s group get their heroin from Santo Padre instead of the cartel. Cole isn’t interested because the cartel provides him with all he needs. He also reveals Soledad asked him to find out who raided her cookhouse – and now he knows the answer.

EZ’s persistent but Cole’s not impressed. However, he will give them a head start before he comes for them. And still, EZ pleads his case, insisting that working with Santo Padre means Cole no longer has to deal with crossing the border. Keeping everything in the U.S. minimizes risk and increases Cole’s profits. However, if they make this deal, the Mayans want the prisons back.

Cole lays out his demands. He needs 10 kilos in the next few days or else he’ll do as Soledad requested and come for Santo Padre. Cole doesn’t promise to give the prisons back but says he’ll see. If they come through with the heroin, then the Mayans have his attention.

Before they get on their bikes, Angel tells his bro this is a bad idea. Angel reminds EZ that Cole put a gun to Maverick’s head. He can’t believe EZ made him attend this meeting. EZ insists Angel’s the only one he needs by his side and believes they’ll wind up making Cole work for them – not the other way around.

Angel thinks his brother’s crazy and EZ admits he has no idea how they’ll get all the supplies in three days. However, he knows they can do it.

Things Don’t Add Up for Lincoln Potter

Fans were right. It’s confirmed that the person under investigation by the DOJ is Agent Lincoln Potter (Ray McKinnon).

Patricia Devlin (Dana Delany) introduces herself to Potter as the Deputy Assistant Inspector General of the Division of Investigations, OIG San Diego field office. They’ve found serious irregularities in his accounting and want him to explain his numbers.

Potter waxes philosophical about the milk he’s drinking, slurping to punctuate his statement. Patricia asks him to get to the point while also accusing him of threatening her in his unique, folksy way. Lincoln apologizes for the way he came across and asks for more clarification on his missing receipts.

The Dynamic Duo of Hope and Letty:

Letty (Emily Tosta) and Hope (Vanessa Giselle) play a game of dream jobs, and Hope jokes that she wants to be a food, sleep, or book tester. Letty teases Hope that what she really wants to be is a human guinea pig.

Later, Hope waits in line with people wanting to score drugs, glancing around inside the house at personal effects. She tries to leave but is forced to remain inside. Suddenly, Letty busts in armed with just a knife. Letty immediately finds herself with a gun to the side of her head as Hope hears her name called out. She’s shocked to discover Butterfly is the dealer, and while everyone’s distracted by this development, Letty stabs the man holding her at gunpoint, grabs a backpack full of cash, and runs out with Hope.

Their exit’s met with a barrage of gunfire, and it’s only because Butterfly knows Hope that their car isn’t shot to shreds as they drive off.

Letty and Hope made off with $17,000, more than enough to pay off their back rent. Hope knows they need to leave ASAP, but Letty refuses. She’s not scared of the Meth Mountain cult and won’t leave her house because it’s all she has left of Coco.

Letty orders Hope to leave but she doesn’t. Instead, she grabs ice cream – and two spoons – and returns to Letty’s side on the couch. (I’d say the odds are against both women surviving this final season.)

Creeper Possesses a Dangerous Secret:

Creeper (Joseph Raymond Lucero) has been released from the hospital and hides his pain as he walks back into the prison yard. He’s the odd man out, a lone wolf amid hungry carnivores as he stands by the fence and watches his fellow prisoners. The Mayans can’t protect him anymore and no one approaches him as he stands alone.

Agent Kate McNeill’s boss, ATF Agent Melissa Lydecker, accuses Kate of screwing up their three-year investigation even further by visiting Creeper in the jail’s hospital after she was told to stay away from him. Lydecker orders Kate to turn in her badge; she’s fired.

Kate secretly grabs Melissa’s badge as she’s leaving and uses it to open the Records room.

Episode three, directed by Danny Pino, ends with Creeper calling Hank and informing him there’s a rat in the club.

SOA Labs

HomeIQ by SOA Labs is an analytic software for the mortgage and real estate industry that focuses on retention, referrals and real-time engagement. As realtors struggle with staying top-of-mind due to the limitations CRM’s provide, HomeIQ allows them to position themselves as a trusted real estate expert by providing valuable home insights to clients on how to increase their home’s wealth and save money.