I think that if you grew up in a one parent family from an ethnic minority on a high rise council estate in the 70's and then made a living out of financial services 'loving how working class you are, then we have more in common than you think.
But I think we are in different places just now
If I were you, I would have spent my time trying to distance myself from my dribbling racist mate.
But that's just the sort of thing you'd expect from a whinging liberal lefty isn't it.