London and surrounding area has become so unkempt

Depending where you live though , the idea of ‘fripperies’ can vary - here in Bath we had a year when the council did away with our usual comedy festival/book festival/ food festival etc and a lot of locals moaned like mad as they have tourist dependent businesses or work for similar - and it’s this frippery stuff that attracts people throughout the year -I can see though if you live somewhere that isn’t like this then yes the ‘nice to haves’ are somewhat secondary to bins, parks, general upkeep , social care -

I agree with all of this, GrubbyTowns, except the bit about the council budgets

It's certainly the whine which they trot out to explain every failure, but isn't convincing when there's always the money for whatever pointless vanity projects they prefer to lash ££££ on

And please don't anyone point out that such-and-such is "ringfenced" ... it's public money, so if it's needed more for core, statutory issues than fripperies then un-ringfence it

Typo

I do think saying specifically London though nearly always has a ‘we hate London slant’ - I went shopping in Kingston the other week and then popped to Wimbledon-both were busy and yes whilst not mint condition spick and span were perfectly fine and nice and lively , no different at all to other UK city’s I’ve been to recently, both north and south - now I love Liverpool and well done to it if it was looking great but I’ve also been when it’s level of spick and span was no different to anywhere else if it’s size - I’ve been to London on days where I think , goodness this looks clean and tidy and other times I think blimey this looks a bit grim, it can be all kinds of things, level of business and volume of tourists, councils annual budget running low, weather, wind, birds opening bags , landlords dumping shit .it really isn’t just a London thin— same situation by the way in Amsterdam, Düsseldorf, Rome, Vienna - even when we lived in Copenhagen it had days it looked much cleaner than others -

You do it all the time

Eh? What?! No idea what you're talking about there. Perhaps you could link to where I've done that before?

Again, I wasn't implying that you were doing any such thing. I was referencing the stream of misinformation about London/lawlessness that is often levelled at Sadik Khan, because he is Muslim.

Not you.

It was a bizarre take. No one mentioned the mayor or his religion.

Forgot to add that the rubbish, glass bottles, wrappers, dirty nappies etc cover the beach by the end of a summer's day thanks to the day trippers who don't think it matters as they don't live there.
Thank God for the tireless local cleaners who restore the sands to a pristine condition ( before the next onslaught begins...)

I used to live in Margate and I agree that parts of it are run down and grubby. Like many seaside towns though , Margate has suffered from multiple shop closures (apart from the trendy bit near the Turner to attract the tourists.)
There is a lot of poverty in the area and many people struggled before the COL rises-also low wages for seasonal jobs and zero contracts.
I think that when some people are struggling, they care less about their environment and the more prosperous, older DFL's are fighting a losing battle against this backdrop.
The rental market is insanely expensive although I realise that this is an issue shared by many seaside towns and that just adds to the problem!

As my post about a dirty seaside town has had comments, I will say that it is Margate that is dirty.

Yeah where there's rubbish there's vermin. But some residential areas seem clean and well kept.

I wouldn't have counted Brighton as SE

You obviously didn't go in the part of Liverpool my relatives live in!

@Dappy777 Rupert- is that you? If it’s that awful move to somewhere that suits you more if you can - and since when did flying union jacks outside your house become a normal thing to do ? , back in the days when there were fewer immigrants I don’t remember anyone doing this and I lived in a very working class mining town , so of course as its become something ‘some’ people do it’s become associated with a particular mindset/ viewpoint . We have loads of towns and villages round here where you see very few immigrants’ and few signs of statue smashing etc ( this by the way has little to do with any British culture - just bored scumbags ) - all still very British, Sunday lunch at pub, slightly grotty tea shop , branch of CoOp etc - O think you are wanting a culture and way of life that doesn’t really exist anymore in lots of places that have grown but it’s not down to anyone imposing anything on you , it’s simply change that has happened over the years. My great uncle who is 89 gets his knickers in a twist about smartphones and having to use apps and no longer having bank branches on every corner etc

One of the problems is the huge amount of takeaway rubbish. 30 years ago I don't think there was a costa on every corner giving out thousands of cups a year some of which get dumped. It's the same with all the chains.

I do litter picking - it's mcdonalds/kfc, redbull cans, monster energy drinks and coffee cups in the main that's the most common. We need to put a small 5p tax on the top ten most dropped items and it could be ring fenced for cleaning up.

On the plus side there used to be magnetic tape from car tape players glistening in the hedges of the UK and that's all gone!

I live in Merton - we get bins collected every week (alternating general rubbish / paper vs all other recyclables), the council provides pop up tips and they are very good at dealing with flytipping reported on the fixmystreet app. But there is still so much rubbish about.

I also think you become a bit immune to it and stop seeing it - i always feel like it looks a lot worse after ive been to see my parents in their smallish rural town but I think its just because ive seen what clean really looks like.

The amount of flytipped mattresses, furniture, general waste is really disappointing and there is so much dog poo in the alleys and snickets. So disgusting - I cannot understand why people dont pick up after their dogs when kids are biking and scooting up and down the paths constantly.

What new identity is being imposed on you?

I haven't called you racist at all. I pointed out that this story about London 'falling apart' is a Reform/far Right narrative.

I was going to say Brighton - but it actually looked quite a bit improved last time I went

What do you expect? The Left have done all they can to make us ashamed of our history and culture. They have smashed our statues, ‘de-colonised’ our universities, and taught us to despise our national heroes. Why would people take pride in a country where it is controversial to fly your national flag?! I wouldn’t dare hang a St George or a Union Jack outside my house. I’d probably get a brick through my window.

To be honest, I barely feel English or British anymore. I no longer live on an island with a shared history and culture. As for the new identity that is being imposed on me, it means nothing to me. I just care about my own family now. I’ll pay my tax and obey the law, but that’s it.

You were called a racist? Where?

See THIS I disagree with, the tube is a magical feat of engineering and I love it.

My mum lives in a well-off area in London and it looks decidedly shabby. The main high street is a disgrace; closed shops, tacky shop fronts, cracked pavements, weeds, rubbish left outside of premises, mattresses... I'd be embarrassed to take anyone there if I lived there.

I e-mailed the council about it a few years ago and they replied saying it wasn't their place to dictate to shop owners. I disagree with that though, as there should be a standard, not just an anything goes attitude.

Sad to say, most of London really lets itself down. Don't get me started on the tube.

You don’t have to hate London to think that there’s a rubbish problem. I’m a Yorkshire woman who bloody lives here and I see the litter. It wouldn’t fly in a Yorkshire village I’ll tell you that for free.

When I was in zone 2 in a flat we had fly tippers come at least once a month leaving our buildings dumpsters absolutely full of building waste. Leaving us with no bins for the next two weeks… 12 flats with no bins.

I'm a northerner from Yorkshire so gentically pre disposed to hate London but just can't do it. Our last visit was a football match at QPR and had a good few hours to kill before said match. We decided to walk from Victoria to the ground and it was a lovely walk. Included through the park, stop off at Nottinghill and the market around there. Walked on through to Shepherd's Bush. No idea if I only saw manicured London, but felt completely safe, it was clean, quiet and quite relaxing walk. Stopped for a coffee in random café and people were friendly and had time for a chat. Been to a number of different things over the last few years and this has been the general experience. Can't relate to the London hate at all. It's a great city.