London Independence

[LearningEveryDay19]

The majority of London voted Labour - principalfish.co.uk/electionmaps/?map=election2019

The majority of London voted Remain - principalfish.co.uk/electionmaps/brexit.html

AIBU in suggesting that London should have a referendum on whether to become an independent city state, in order to remain in the EU?

I'm starting to like this idea, we could add a replica Cambridge, Oxford, Bath, Stonehenge and Lake District to London and then the tourists who come over to 'do' England and only go to those places could stay within the theme park small part of London earmarked for them and leave the rest of the country's beauty spots for us all to enjoy. Income would, of course, be distributed across the whole of England and Londoners would be able to live in different cities and still do their 'niche' jobs (whatever they are).

Can you keep Boris, Jo, Nigel and Jeremy too please?

I’m a Londoner, but I’m ashamed to admit it because I don’t want to be associated with you OP. As far as I can tell London seems chock full of self-entitled loudmouths at the moment criticising everyone else without realising what arseholes they’ve become.

Please move away from London OP. You are
spoiling it for the rest of us with your intolerance and ignorance. Frankly you should be embarrassed by your attitude.

I wonder where all the water London needs is going to come from 🤔.

The fuck off big river?

If the last three years in politics have shown us anything, it is that there are effectively five distinct countries in the U.K, not four. Scotland, Wales, England, Northern Ireland and London.

Why have you separated London out, but not any of the other major cities which are also Remain/Labour? What makes London special enough to get different treatment to those cities?

And people wonder why swathes of the country feel ignored, disenfranchised and pissed off at the London 'bubble'.

In fact, if you were dividing this map up, it would be into 3 distinct political areas:

1. England and Wales
2. Scotland
3. Northern Ireland

There is absolutely nothing to suggest that London stands out more than, say, Liverpool.

The Brexit map tells the same story. NI and Scotland look distinct, but nowhere else. Plenty of cities all over the country voted remain - hence the overall vote being so close.

Fine. Yep. Can we also distribute the wealth fairly? So that schools in the north west are funded on the same way as London schools? Ta.

Well, if that means that the benefits that London reaps by dint of being the capital city are shared out more equally I'm all for it.

But I suspect that’s not what you mean.

As far as I can tell London seems chock full of self-entitled loudmouths at the moment criticising everyone else without realising what arseholes they’ve become.

Don't tar us all with the same brush! The ones who are born & raised are quite different to the ones who grew up in the Home Counties & moved in, in their 20s 😄

Yeah. Right. OP this was exactly my reaction on the morning of June 24 2016. Back then I lived in central London. Shortly afterwards we left the city for the country and it didn’t take me long to get why everyone in the rest of the UK finds the country so London-centric. I now feel ashamed that I felt that way. You should too. The United Kingdom is an amazing, multi faceted country with talent far and wide that has been trying for a long time to have its voice heard. That voice is being heard, finally.
It always amazes me that people who are desperate for some kind of radical socialism - or not even radical, just socialism - cite countries like Germany or France as their model. Those countries have capital cities, yes, but Germany in particular has worked hard to have its economy and industry distributed evenly across its cities from North to South and East to West. This HAS to happen in the UK, and London is just going to have to deal with it.
I love the idea I have seen bandied about online about setting up another centre of governance in the North. About bloody time!

@CatAndHisKit that isn't true, what about Derby?

I think it is unlikely that other regions in uk subsidise London as a lot of money is generated there compared to other places.

Only because of all the head offices situated there. However, the majority of their customers and profits are made from outside London.

Say, a supermarket. HO in London, so top jobs etc based in London. But profits also shown as London derived. In reality, profits are made from stores all over the UK, warehouses are outside London, etc. So, completely artificial. The HO could be moved to Liverpool or Manchester or Leeds or York or Newcastle, taking the top jobs with it, and then the "profits" will be derived in a Northern city - yet the stores and warehouses are in exactly the same place, i.e. where the customers are located, all over the UK.

Shortly afterwards we left the city for the country and it didn’t take me long to get why everyone in the rest of the UK finds the country so London-centric.

I grew up in London but have now lived in 'The North' for many years. I also feel ashamed at how parochial and london-centric my outlook was back then. The worst of it is that people like this can't even see what arses they are being!

The people who say the rest of the country subsidises London - I would love to see your evidence.

The customers of the banks, head offices, etc., are all over the UK yet the profits etc are declared as London.

If we're talking about the contribution made by different parts of the UK, it is simply not a level playing field.

The level of government investment in infrastructure, transport etc. which is directed at maintaining London's dominance is unreal. The north is crying out for investment and has been for many years. How on earth could we possibly compete as a place to locate your business HQ when even basic transport systems are crumbling?

The north will never be in a position to compete while this continues, and things like HS2 just perpetuate the problem.

www.ippr.org/news-and-media/press-releases/new-transport-figures-reveal-north-to-receive-indefensible-2-555-less-per-person-than-london

I'm game. Give me the signal and I'll start bricking up the M25. Refugees welcome.

It's like having two kids, spending mega bucks of private schooling, extra curriculum activities and tuition for one, while largely ignoring the other. Then making a song and dance about how one appears to be more successful than the other....

Areas can only thrive if they receive investment. The fact that the investment in London pays dividends should not be a surprise (and is not a demonstration of London's innate superiority). Nor should the fact that lack of investment elsewhere, over a period of multiple decades, has caused those place to become run down and economically dependent.

@Receptacle born In London here. I now refer to the city dwellers as “those Londoners” 😂
HS2 should be scrapped. It should be all about connecting the big Northern cities to each other, because currently the train situation is woeful. I’ve had to go cross Country in the north by rail a few times and it’s slow, unreliable, expensive and the rolling stock from the Stone Age. London is plenty well connected, especially once CrossRail is running. It’s all very well the government blathering on about being Carbon neutral but you won’t get people off the roads any time soon when the trains anywhere north of the midlands are so wonky.

MrsTerryPratchet - but where does the water in the Thames come from? Presumably it flows into the Thames from rivers outside of London. I don't know to be fair - but I think it unlikely that London could survive without a great deal of good will from those of us outside the M25 - unless we are talking about a Hunger Games situation.

As far as I can tell London seems chock full of self-entitled loudmouths at the moment criticising everyone else without realising what arseholes they’ve become

Don't tar us all with the same brush! The ones who are born & raised are quite different to the ones who grew up in the Home Counties & moved in, in their 20s

Come on folks, let's just stop all this generalised hatred.

Other regions of Britain need investment. This is obvious. The industrial heart of the country was ripped out by Thatcher and has been replaced by financial service industries while we have sold our commercial prospects to China.

Of course London is not 'chock full of arseholes (though of course there are some), it is chock full of ordinary families desperately trying to make a living that works alongside sky high housing costs. Many of the London Boroughs, and wards in the boroughs, display severe levels of poverty.

The whole country needs to make sure that there is opportunity everywhere, and that the industries and sectors that flourish in any location are supported to develop and grow, so we can do without North-South hostility.

And give over with the inter-London shit, too. London has its fair share of born and bread arseholes, same as anywhere.

A typical journey - Morecambe to York University:

By car, 2 hours 5 minutes
By public transport (train/bus) 3 hours 30 minutes to 4 hours

Only 122 miles!

Yawn. More London bashing.

Crikey social media has done a great job of peddling stereotypes to everyone...

Not everyone in the regions is an ignorant bigot (unless you once voted UKIP).
Not everyone in London is an elitist twat rolling in cash.

Since 2016 one stereotype has been pitted against the other. There are no winners in this, other than ambitious politicians and media moguls.

Whatever party you voted for, I hope you'll all agree this has been the most dishonest election, with the least transparency (from any party) on their actual, real policies that they will actually, really deliver.

We (really) are all in it together.
Millions of children living in poverty (in London as well as the regions).
A crippled NHS.
Teachers leaving in droves.
The most vulnerable in society left without a safety net.

So whilst we're all sniping at each other, who is holding those responsible for resolving these issues to account?

Lots of big cities voted Labour and remain. How about people in London take the time to understand why people up North feel so abandoned, so fed up of our London centric country

^ This. Other parts of the country are fed up with Londoners thinking they are gods gift and that it's all about them and what they want.