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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Would you go to London

264 replies

limey234 · 14/10/2023 07:50

We have a tourist trip booked in half term. Lots of museums, the tube, shops, tourist destinations with our two kids (under 7).

Would you go? Given the situation in the world right now.

My husband barely watches or reads any news. He doesn't understand why I'm nervous.

I think we should postpone it. I'm a bit nervous of being caught up in a protest, or other activity.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
6
cremona · 14/10/2023 11:09

HermioneWeasley · 14/10/2023 07:51

Yes, absolutely unless you are visibly
jewish

How fucked up is this answer? Anyone Jewish is automatically responsible for what Israel does and should expect to be unsafe?

glassyglass · 14/10/2023 11:09

@Chaiandkaafee no it’s not. But feel free to post evidence to suggest i’m wrong…

Original poster
limey234 · 14/10/2023 11:10

@glassyglass do you have a source for that fact? People tend to not like facts unless you can back them up. I've already seen someone say that is "just your opinion".

OP posts:
Chaiandkaafee · 14/10/2023 11:11

@FebruaryOnMyMind its like a rentamob- they roll them out and totally derail the genuine and very important need to protest such a heart wrenching cause. What’s going to unfold in Gaza is untold damage for generations to come. I don’t want to be guilty by association and will likely end up lecturing them and shouting at any dodgy speaker in an old Aunty mode. That’d make the papers!!!!

BethDuttonsTwin · 14/10/2023 11:13

limey234 · 14/10/2023 10:48

@Chaiandkaafee it's really not. Not everything is race related.

Don't worry. Everyone knows that very well. Best to ignore 😊

glassyglass · 14/10/2023 11:14

@Thepeopleversuswork you’re post gives me something to think about as I didn’t really assume that attitude which is prevalent would hurt people. And i’m probably guilty of stereotyping the other way as couldn’t live anywhere but London.

glassyglass · 14/10/2023 11:21

@limey234

“Islamist Terrorism remains the larger problem – about three quarters of our terrorist caseload. As previously, much of the volume is self-radicalised terrorists seeking to conduct low-sophistication attacks - See more at: https://www.mi5.gov.uk/news/director-general-ken-mccallum-gives-annual-threat-update#sthash.vecUEFhE.dpuf”

Director General Ken McCallum gives annual threat update

MI5 Director General Ken McCallum gave his annual threat update today, at our headquarters.

https://www.mi5.gov.uk/news/director-general-ken-mccallum-gives-annual-threat-update#sthash.vecUEFhE.dpuf%E2%80%9D

StayorgoLDN · 14/10/2023 11:22

EnidSpyton · 14/10/2023 10:29

There are a lot of aggressive and nasty comments on this thread.

I have lived in London all my life but have family who live rurally and feel anxious when they visit. To them, London is overwhelming in every sense of the word. I get it. Even when I leave London for the weekend and go to another major UK city, let alone the countryside or a small town, when my train pulls back into its London station and I come out onto the street, the difference in the numbers of people, the noise, the size of everything, hits me afresh. I'm used to it, but if I weren't, I'd find it hugely anxiety inducing, I think.

Let's give people a break. There is a lot of shit going on in the world at the moment, it's frightening, and not everyone is able to control or rationalise their normal 'fight or flight' response to perceived external threats as others.

No, we are not in Israel or Gaza, and I thank whatever spirit in the sky that I'm not. But that doesn't mean people shouldn't be allowed to think of their own safety in the UK at the same time. Global actions do have local consequences, we know this. Jewish schools in London have had to close this week. There are going to be repercussions felt all over the world from what is happening in Israel and Gaza. It would be remiss to pretend otherwise. Ridiculing and chastising people for feeling fear is not only unkind, it's also misguided. We absolutely should all be more wary. Whatever position the UK government takes up in response to the actions both the Israeli government and Hamas choose to make in the coming weeks will trigger consequences. That is the reality. We might not like it, but it will happen. Suggesting we are 'safe' is naive in the extreme. No country or its citizens is in the 21st century, I'm afraid.

@EnidSpyton the most sensible, balanced post I have seen on this issue across multiple threads. Thank you.

I also love your username!!

glassyglass · 14/10/2023 11:23

Perhaps it’s just his opinion though! @Chaiandkaafee why is MI5 wrong?

CarpetLady · 14/10/2023 11:24

99% of London is completely normal at the moment. It's not hard at all to avoid the protests.

Original poster
limey234 · 14/10/2023 11:25

@glassyglass thanks for the source. That seems to back up your fact you provided earlier. It doesn't seem that this is just your opinion as suggested earlier. I mean, the source is from MI5 so I believe it to be trustworthy and reliable

OP posts:
Original poster
limey234 · 14/10/2023 11:26

@EnidSpyton agree your post was perfect. Thanks.

OP posts:
cathcath2 · 14/10/2023 11:26

Yes, I would go. In fact, now I really want to London in half-term!

glassyglass · 14/10/2023 11:34

@limey234

It really fucking annoys me when posters struggle to comprehend the difference between facts & opinions.
On one thread yrs ago I was lambasted for saying Donald Trump may win because he’s popular in X states. The hard of thinking assumed stating this equalled I dress head to toe in MAGA merchandise & love Trump. Yes, I’m still bitter about it! Posters here are meant to be above average intelligence wise but the comprehension is often woeful.

StayorgoLDN · 14/10/2023 11:34

Thepeopleversuswork · 14/10/2023 10:35

I just feel like a fairly large percentage of people on here are constantly looking for an excuse to slag off London anyway for being dirty/crowded/smelly/full of knife crime/full of Londoners/you name it.

People tolerate rudeness towards London which wouldn't be tolerated towards the inhabitants of any other UK city. It's exhausting.

I tend to let this wash over me most of the time but having this yoked, in the most tenuous way, to the situation in the ME is eye-rollingly tedious. The idea of loads of people who live in incredibly safe rural or corridor towns having a fit of the vapours about coming here for a day trip when a) the risk is absolutely tiny and b) they don't even have to come here, seems ridiculous tbh.

Anxiety is anxiety and if you don't want to come to London don't come to London but don't pretend this is a rational decision that has anything to do with the Middle East.

Show quote history

@Thepeopleversuswork

I think you’re reading these threads and conflating a dislike of terrorism/protesters with a dislike of the city.

I LOVE London, it has an amazing arts scene, vibrant, diverse people, some of the best museums in the world, beautiful parks, rich history, great restaurants, great connectivity, fabulous hotels.

What is not to love?

But it is very expensive, our accom is £250-300 a night (which is cheap actually), the activities are costing a few hundred a day on top of that… I can’t afford to waste £1000 because some lunatic has decided to plant a bomb or stab somebody elsewhere in the city. Nor do I want to deal with totally distressed/dysregulated children who wouldn’t cope with changes of plan due to this or avoidance of protests/unrest.

Having lost several days of holidays previously in London/Paris I am understandably cautious.

London is a wonderful place and everyone should visit, but ideally I would like to do so when tensions are not so high.

Chaiandkaafee · 14/10/2023 11:38

@glassyglass the headline is misleading. He addresses several threats from several different sources. Did you read the full speech? To interpret fully what he said is for another thread. But you have proved my point of it being race related. Thank you. @limey234 I’m sorry for derailing your thread.

glassyglass · 14/10/2023 11:43

@Chaiandkaafee of course I read the whole thing.
The part I quoted is not misleading. You’re certainly proving my point about comprehension.

Post something that says I’m wrong rather than deflecting, go on!

StayorgoLDN · 14/10/2023 11:44

Chaiandkaafee · 14/10/2023 10:54

Thank you. I was going to ask WHO in particular she is afraid of then if it is not race related? WHO does she think is going to possibly attack her or WHOSE attack is she going to get caught up in?!?!

Edited

@Chaiandkaafee

This whole race angle you’re pushing isn’t really accurate at all.

The U.K. gov has given support to Israel and as follows that makes the country a target for pro Palestine supporters whomever they may be.

My kids go to school with a lot of Muslims and we have Muslim neighbours/friends.

I am not worried because I don’t live in the capital where the centre of government is situated and where there will be huge protests that could get out of hand.

Original poster
limey234 · 14/10/2023 11:46

@Chaiandkaafee you are not sorry. You and others accuse me of being something I'm not.

Is it sexist to say that mostly men are responsible for violent sexual crime?

Just because the threat is highest for Islamist terror attacks that doesn't mean that I think all Muslim people are dangerous. To suggest that would be racist. Nobody has suggested that have they?

OP posts:
Chaiandkaafee · 14/10/2023 11:49

I said I’m sorry for derailing your thread by talking to glassyglass and not you. I haven’t apologised for suggesting that your reasons for not coming are linked to race. That’s something I will stand by. Had you not had my original
Comment deleted - I d refer you back to it. But there you go.

Archymum · 14/10/2023 11:50

To the PP who used this phrase, what does "visibly Jewish" mean?! What would you expect a "visibly Jewish" person to look like?

Oganesson118 · 14/10/2023 11:51

I was in Central London this week. It didn't cross my mind to be worried about it. I was mostly in the City as it was work but I took a tube to London Bridge to walk along the south bank in the evening and ended up going over the bridge and up as far as Charing Cross and it felt no different to any other trip I've done.

Desecratedcoconut · 14/10/2023 11:52

Archymum · 14/10/2023 11:50

To the PP who used this phrase, what does "visibly Jewish" mean?! What would you expect a "visibly Jewish" person to look like?

@HermioneWeasley

Chaiandkaafee · 14/10/2023 11:52

@glassyglass why would I post anything else? You’ve proved my point that the fear of OP in coming to London is linked to race.