To be deeply disappointed in John Cleese

[drspouse]

I have no idea if this is typical but he just tweeted that London isn't an English city any more
What is it then pray tell? What's not English about it??

He’s left the country because of Brexit. I don’t blame him.

I think he was playing devils advocate in those images tbh.

The news is full of racists who use dog whistle tactics to gain attention and momentum and some of them face the very real prospect of running the country. That worries me right now.

Well it’s very multicultural, and all the better for it. No idea why it has to conform to some stereotype of Englishness (whatever that even is).

I suppose a Cleese is just a man of his time. Fawlty Towers for instance is a bit meh in retrospect. Most people have moved on from the little Englander mindset, or even finding it amusing.

It's not 'English' ? No, it isn't and all the marvellous for it,

Show me any city truly of it's own nation. It doesn't exist.

Well he’s right. London is a multi-cultural city.

There are lots of benefits to multiculturalism.
Then there is walking down my local high st (a large area big enough for an indoor shopping centre), and nobody around me speaks English. Nobody. It's very othering and disconcerting and makes me uncomfortable. I'm only 37 and I'm sure many older/elderly people probably feel even more displaced.
I also think the government pack most immigrants into urban areas that are already overcrowded and underfunded, putting even more strain on services such as health, housing and education. As a teacher working and living in an area that has had a huge amount of immigration I have seen this first hand.
There has to be a proper discussion about this. But I'm sure people will come along and hammer me for my opinion instead.

Well I thought that was the case @Isatis but that seems to have been destroyed since 2016.

He’s a silly, boring old misogynistic twat. Not sure what the big deal about this tweet is though.

London has been multicultural since Roman times, it's hardly something new.

I completely agree with John Cleese
What's wrong for speaking the truth?
If we were all more honest we might move on - it's a fact is it not that the London knife crime epidemic has accelerated only since European gangs arrived.
Sorry but I'm not a racist but if you argue the migration point you are automatically labelled as one.
Someone was said that everyone wants to live in Britain, but not with the British!!
I think that sums it up perfectly

Roll on Leave

I’m not English but live in London. The fact that it’s multicultural and totally set apart from the fucking Little England (and Wales) Brexiteer mentality is the only thing that makes it a tolerable place to live.

How incredibly dull must you be if you want to live somewhere where people are all the same.

Hear, hear Babayaggatheboneylegged! And it is not a 'fact' that knife crime has only gone up since 'European gangs' (?) have arrived on the scene.

The London knife crime epidemic has accelerated since May cut policing numbers.
I love London's diversity and am never happier than whe. I hear different languages being spoken around me.
I'd like to know why he said it actually. Context would help me decide if I think he's a twat or not.

Not only did police numbers get cut under May but so did budgets for preventative/youth work. I’m not sure how many stabbing have been linked to ‘European gangs’?

I kind of see what he’s saying. On the overground from my local station you often hear every language under the sun being spoken except English!

John Cleese is the most odious snob. I served him in a restaurant more than 20 years ago in London. He was out with his daughter and I was an undergraduate student back then. I am of Asian origin but was born here in London and he spoke to me in a rude, patronising manner, enunciating every word as if I didn't speak English.

His comment about half educated tenement Scots is outrageous. It annoyed me back then and still irritates me now.
Horrible man.

Not everyone outside London is a white person who only wants to live with other white people. Why slag off the rest of the UK in order to defend London?

I really enjoy how diverse London is. It’s a global city and that’s part of its appeal - it’s open to all walks of life.

Sadly it isn’t open to all walks of life because a lot of people can’t afford to live there

howwudufeel yes, I meant visiting and enjoying the city as well

@akerman

Off topic - I don’t want to say too much, but DH is closely involved in a professional capacity. It has nothing to do with police numbers - we used to be policed far more effectively with fewer officers. The problem is that they’ve all but disappeared from the streets. I can’t remember the last time I saw an officer walking the beat. The Met doesn’t prevent crime any longer. It’s a reactionary force that waits for things to happen and tries to deal with the aftermath - preferably online! It’s a mad way of trying to police, but they insist on doing it.

I was just thinking of a man i met who works in central London. He had to drive an hour away to pick his dd up from nursery. He was tired and stressed. It is just awful that people like him can’t afford to live in their own city. It must cause dreadful divisions between people.

I agree with croprotation - He’s a silly, boring old misogynistic twat.

I have no idea what his intentions were or the context of the statement but I have definitely heard racists say that it before going into nastier divisive statements. I'm a Londoner and I love its diversity - I really dont see it as a divided city though of course the gap between rich and poor is huge and getting wider. But London is a world city. It is also one of the best cities in the world.

I agree with croprotation - He’s a silly, boring old misogynistic twat.

No he isn't. He is entitled to his opinion. Do you have to resort to insults just because someone has a different opinion???

I also agree with John Cleese, but as a few posters have said, anyone supporting him will get shouted down as a racist, and a bigot, and told to go read their daily mail.

I know a number of people who have moved from London in the last decade, and they were born and raised there. Some had lived there their whole life and moved at around 40 years old, some moved away at 60-70 years old after living in London their whole lives, and they say it's not the London it was. The good old London they knew and loved is dead.

They say that the old communities and the ordinary Londoners they once knew are few and far between now. The old London they loved has withered and died, it's almost unrecognisable, and totally not the place it used to be. (For a number of different reasons.....)

They are much happier further up north now (midlands and further north like south yorks and cheshire and lancashire.)

Some people seem quite happy to live in London, and are twittering on about how much they just LOVE the diversity!!! ! Bully for you! I am so pleased for you. But do shove off with your 'if you don't live in a massively diverse area you are racist' bullshit.

As someone said upthread, quit slagging off other areas of the UK that are less diverse, (and calling the people bigoted who live there,) to defend, and 'big up' London!

London is really not all that IMO. Some interesting places there to see on a visit, but I wouldn't live there if you paid me. Overcrowded, polluted, expensive, and overrated.