The end for the tie?: "As Britain has shifted into a far more meritocratic social era than anyone could ever have predicted a decade ago, the phrase 'old-school tie' has acquired a musty, almost decrepit sense of yesteryear. But when Sir Andrew Turnbull, the outgoing Cabinet Secretary, stands up, as he did this week, to welcome a tieless era and hint that the grey-suited armies of civil servants will soon be open-necked, free of the costliest 12 inches of fabric that most people ever purchase in their lives, it is a moment to take note."
