Great post . My grandparents and mother were Irish immigrants . I was born in a London Borough.
The greatest city in the world.
We don’t need these self appointed, entitled amateurs to lead us. We will lead ourselves. It’s called community and mutuality. We don’t need the toxic nostalgia for empire and the outdated structures these people peddle . It’s irrelevant.
Dear Bear, good morning. If not for you I would not have known the Reform had had a press conference. People who pretend to care for anyone other than themselves just disappoint me.
As a northern country boy, my own view of London is "nice place to visit, wouldn't want to live there".
But that's me. I have friends who love it and made it their home who I visit once or twice a year. Have I ever suffered or seen any crime? In 25 years of doing that, not once!
When I do visit I love the city for its multiculturalism. In terms of food & restaurants you can get anything. In terms of culture the city has the best theatre, music, museums, and things to see in the country.
That is also a bit of a problem because the rest of the country looks on in envy. The UK has far to much centralisation based on London and I think we could learn a thing or two from the Germans about spreading things more equitably around the UK.
Of course, Deform UK Ltd wouldn't like that because that would be changing the rest of the Britain to be more multicultural. Not that it isn't already 🤦
I was born there. I had 2 immigrant grandparents and 2 English grandparents, my school class was a diverse mix of Jewish, Polish, Spanish, Maltese Italian and a few more different cultures. I couldn't have wished to have lived anywhere nicer than the East End of London even if we did live in slum dwellings. Sadly we moved away in 1963 when I was 9. I so missed the area. I have to wonder why people like Cunningham who run it down, don't leave. Why would she want to stay somewhere she feels is so awful. Maybe the problem is her and not London.
The London that's portrayed in the media really varies and has done for ever. From films about the criminal underworld to those highlighting the Kensington class in film noire, the 40s, 50s, 60s... you get your Georgy Girls and swinging 60s, then you're up to The Sweeney and what a grime fest is the London of those days. Then your 80s, Minder and Eastenders. 90s and The Bill etc. Spice Girls etc.
You're right, Bear, London is everything and everyone, distilled and mixed and just there.
The focus on crime and degradation of society is so much bollocks in the way it is portrayed. It's there same as anywhere but it's far from the whole story. More a footnote.
I'm with my parents up north at the moment. 200m up the main road, opposite the parish church built in classic sandstone 1820s style is a fortress property where about 15 years ago a crime boss was machine gunned down. A drive by execution. This is not London. This is a story repeated all over the nation and all over time.
Do you pity Northerners?
The local reform candidate is focused on jobs being taken by foreigners and the number of halal takeaways.
What Cunningham is really doing is blowing a massive dog whistle at Sadiq Khan's face. What these mentally Deform'd racists can't stand is the idea that a Muslim of immigrant heritage is not only mayor, but has been possibly the most popular and successful mayor in recent history. It just completely upsets their equilibrium and destabilises everything they believe (good!). So, being incapable of self reflection, all they can think of is to try to usurp him; and if they do they will then go to great lengths to erase his record, or at least all the positive parts of it. Don't let them in!
These Reform halfwits have no idea about anything! It makes me so mad to see their divisive messages about London and surrounding suburbs. I wish Reform candisates and voters would join "them" in whatever remote, racist and dreadfully conservative (small c, though very likely Tory) hicksvilles they inhabit. Go gossip with the other morons there until you fade to nothing! Leave our great capital out of your bad-mouthing and grotesque rhetoric! We need better in London.
"[I]n London everyone is different, but that means anyone can fit in"
— Paddington Bear
I came to London from Merseyside 23 years ago. Going back home feels like going back in time, public transport is a complete joke in the provinces and there are very few job opportunities. I feel sorry for them :-)
Another excellent article. Personally, I didn't much like living in London (though I did it for a total of about 12 years). But it wasn't for any of the reasons beloved of right-wing pundits. It was more the air pollution (which I believe has improved since), and the nuisance of commuting (I wasn't central enough!). And I liked being near the sea and/or the country, which I now am. But my personal preferences are not the point. London is a city, but it is also a collection of villages, each with its own character. Mostly, that character is very positive. Post-imperial nostalgia doesn't offer anything useful. Never did. Psychotherapists are clear that dwelling on the past - real or imaginary - isn't therapeutic.
I’m obviously much more scientifically sophisticated than most. I understand, through the science of genetics, that a proportion of me (perhaps my left arm) is, in fact, from SE Asia. When last in London it (and I) had a great time. Of course, I can also enjoy the diversity alone at home, unlike those poor politicians of pure descent! 😉
I so look forward to your posts, Bear, because you strip the trees from the wood with such consummate clarity. I lived for 12yrs in London where I worked with many people from different places of birth - but no-one cared🤷🏻♀️
She’s not a fit person to be mayor of such an open and vibrant city with such a closed mind imo.
Thank you bear for yet another great piece. I am a Londoner by birth and but for the price of housing which forced me and my new husband to move out many years ago, would still be living there. That said, my work brought me back to London for years and now retired, I am a frequent visitor. I love London for many reasons but chiefly its’ wonderful diversity. I do not recognise the picture painted by Reform of a place to be feared. Absolute nonsense! London is a wonderful city.
I've lived here in London since we moved here in 1969 when I was 9½. I don't know if I'd call it the greatest city in the world, but one of them.
Just as a point of interest, the 2012 Olympics were the first time all 200+ languages were spoken in one borough (Hackney) and all participating nations had representative living there! That's remarkable and something to be proud of.
PS Other ‘greatest cities’ I've been to: Berlin (where I was born and lived until we moved here); Paris; New York; Amsterdam. Apparently I was conceived in Rome, but I've not been there since. But none of them are as cosmopolitan as London. I doubt anywhere is.
Not only were the Romans immigrants, B, the 'Romans' who built London and settled there came from the length and breadth of the Roman Empire; North Africa, Egypt, Arabia, Greece (including modern day Turkiye), the Balkans, Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, and the marshes and forests of Northern Europe up as far as Belgium. It's ALWAYS been an immigrants' city.
Great post . My grandparents and mother were Irish immigrants . I was born in a London Borough.
The greatest city in the world.
We don’t need these self appointed, entitled amateurs to lead us. We will lead ourselves. It’s called community and mutuality. We don’t need the toxic nostalgia for empire and the outdated structures these people peddle . It’s irrelevant.
I was in London on Tuesday. Visiting the Tate for a couple of exhibitions.
The city was quiet (time of year) peaceful and well London. Cabbies whinging. Commuters scurrying. Bloody road works everywhere.
Would I want to live there. Na! Not my bag.
To be fair at home, this time of year the fashionable look is mud, warm layers, woolly hats and boots.
The idea that London is somehow a sink of decivililisation is a self serving creation of diseased and regressive minds.
She won’t win.
Dear Bear, good morning. If not for you I would not have known the Reform had had a press conference. People who pretend to care for anyone other than themselves just disappoint me.
As a northern country boy, my own view of London is "nice place to visit, wouldn't want to live there".
But that's me. I have friends who love it and made it their home who I visit once or twice a year. Have I ever suffered or seen any crime? In 25 years of doing that, not once!
When I do visit I love the city for its multiculturalism. In terms of food & restaurants you can get anything. In terms of culture the city has the best theatre, music, museums, and things to see in the country.
That is also a bit of a problem because the rest of the country looks on in envy. The UK has far to much centralisation based on London and I think we could learn a thing or two from the Germans about spreading things more equitably around the UK.
Of course, Deform UK Ltd wouldn't like that because that would be changing the rest of the Britain to be more multicultural. Not that it isn't already 🤦
I was born there. I had 2 immigrant grandparents and 2 English grandparents, my school class was a diverse mix of Jewish, Polish, Spanish, Maltese Italian and a few more different cultures. I couldn't have wished to have lived anywhere nicer than the East End of London even if we did live in slum dwellings. Sadly we moved away in 1963 when I was 9. I so missed the area. I have to wonder why people like Cunningham who run it down, don't leave. Why would she want to stay somewhere she feels is so awful. Maybe the problem is her and not London.
The London that's portrayed in the media really varies and has done for ever. From films about the criminal underworld to those highlighting the Kensington class in film noire, the 40s, 50s, 60s... you get your Georgy Girls and swinging 60s, then you're up to The Sweeney and what a grime fest is the London of those days. Then your 80s, Minder and Eastenders. 90s and The Bill etc. Spice Girls etc.
You're right, Bear, London is everything and everyone, distilled and mixed and just there.
The focus on crime and degradation of society is so much bollocks in the way it is portrayed. It's there same as anywhere but it's far from the whole story. More a footnote.
I'm with my parents up north at the moment. 200m up the main road, opposite the parish church built in classic sandstone 1820s style is a fortress property where about 15 years ago a crime boss was machine gunned down. A drive by execution. This is not London. This is a story repeated all over the nation and all over time.
Do you pity Northerners?
The local reform candidate is focused on jobs being taken by foreigners and the number of halal takeaways.
It's toxic and exhausting.
What Cunningham is really doing is blowing a massive dog whistle at Sadiq Khan's face. What these mentally Deform'd racists can't stand is the idea that a Muslim of immigrant heritage is not only mayor, but has been possibly the most popular and successful mayor in recent history. It just completely upsets their equilibrium and destabilises everything they believe (good!). So, being incapable of self reflection, all they can think of is to try to usurp him; and if they do they will then go to great lengths to erase his record, or at least all the positive parts of it. Don't let them in!
These Reform halfwits have no idea about anything! It makes me so mad to see their divisive messages about London and surrounding suburbs. I wish Reform candisates and voters would join "them" in whatever remote, racist and dreadfully conservative (small c, though very likely Tory) hicksvilles they inhabit. Go gossip with the other morons there until you fade to nothing! Leave our great capital out of your bad-mouthing and grotesque rhetoric! We need better in London.
"[I]n London everyone is different, but that means anyone can fit in"
— Paddington Bear
I came to London from Merseyside 23 years ago. Going back home feels like going back in time, public transport is a complete joke in the provinces and there are very few job opportunities. I feel sorry for them :-)
Another excellent article. Personally, I didn't much like living in London (though I did it for a total of about 12 years). But it wasn't for any of the reasons beloved of right-wing pundits. It was more the air pollution (which I believe has improved since), and the nuisance of commuting (I wasn't central enough!). And I liked being near the sea and/or the country, which I now am. But my personal preferences are not the point. London is a city, but it is also a collection of villages, each with its own character. Mostly, that character is very positive. Post-imperial nostalgia doesn't offer anything useful. Never did. Psychotherapists are clear that dwelling on the past - real or imaginary - isn't therapeutic.
I think that the Anglo Saxons that keep getting referred to as being the Reform ideals were pretty well immigrants too.
I’m obviously much more scientifically sophisticated than most. I understand, through the science of genetics, that a proportion of me (perhaps my left arm) is, in fact, from SE Asia. When last in London it (and I) had a great time. Of course, I can also enjoy the diversity alone at home, unlike those poor politicians of pure descent! 😉
I so look forward to your posts, Bear, because you strip the trees from the wood with such consummate clarity. I lived for 12yrs in London where I worked with many people from different places of birth - but no-one cared🤷🏻♀️
She’s not a fit person to be mayor of such an open and vibrant city with such a closed mind imo.
Thank you bear for yet another great piece. I am a Londoner by birth and but for the price of housing which forced me and my new husband to move out many years ago, would still be living there. That said, my work brought me back to London for years and now retired, I am a frequent visitor. I love London for many reasons but chiefly its’ wonderful diversity. I do not recognise the picture painted by Reform of a place to be feared. Absolute nonsense! London is a wonderful city.
I've lived here in London since we moved here in 1969 when I was 9½. I don't know if I'd call it the greatest city in the world, but one of them.
Just as a point of interest, the 2012 Olympics were the first time all 200+ languages were spoken in one borough (Hackney) and all participating nations had representative living there! That's remarkable and something to be proud of.
PS Other ‘greatest cities’ I've been to: Berlin (where I was born and lived until we moved here); Paris; New York; Amsterdam. Apparently I was conceived in Rome, but I've not been there since. But none of them are as cosmopolitan as London. I doubt anywhere is.
Not only were the Romans immigrants, B, the 'Romans' who built London and settled there came from the length and breadth of the Roman Empire; North Africa, Egypt, Arabia, Greece (including modern day Turkiye), the Balkans, Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, and the marshes and forests of Northern Europe up as far as Belgium. It's ALWAYS been an immigrants' city.