London is no longer an English city

[Leafyhouse]

Said by John Cleese (he of Monty Python fame), recently. Link to story is here:

www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-48451384

What do other people think? I do see London's diversity as being its great strength, but maybe it's just because I live in the London bubble - and maybe the view from the rest of the country is utter horror that the capital seems to be becoming increasingly disconnected from the country. Both economically and culturally. Hence the Brexit vote - Remain in a sea of Leave.

What's the view from others?

Good luck to Wigan, they can vote leave, but they were stupid to believe Farage, who now admits that he never said life wouldbe better.

If you voted leave because you believed farage or that things woupd get better for the north when the campaign was lwd by people to the right of Cameron... then more fool you.

I don’t believe for one moment he is on my side or anyone else’s in my region.

Just as a note the Bitterness to London is misplaced.

London votes Labour, these are tory policies

I really hate how posters are calling people who voted leave in these regions stupid and no intelligent. It’s really not nice to do that. Live for one day in their shoes and then judge them

I am not bitter towards London but it is a fact that austerity has hit our regions worse than the SE.

If ylu voted cause ou believed Farage you are stupid, you haven't looked at his track record or any of the things he has actually done.

"Put yourself in their shoes"

I did, I am from the depressed north.

Zippee You are not grasping the fact that people looked at Cameron’s track record and saw 40% council cuts and a lack of interest and investment.

And you don’t recognise any of the things I have said Zippee?

I really hate how posters are calling people who voted leave in these regions stupid and no intelligent

i dont think poor people who voted leave three years ago are stupid- id like to know what they would do now before i decide on that.

I don’t believe for one moment he is on my side or anyone else’s in my region.

So why vote for a campaign that he is one of the main proponents of?

To be clear: I don’t think the people of Wigan are stupid, I think Brexit voters are stupid, which among the people I know, include those who are very highly educated.

Tatiana because they didn’t trust David Cameron.

We’re going round in circles.

Because they didn’t trust DC they voted for someone even more untrustworthy instead of voting on the facts.

Of course I recognise them, but voting leave, a campaign led by the ultra right wing neo liberals, and paid for by tax avoiding billionaires wasn't the right move to make.

Things will get worse in Wigan, and they voted for it.

They had decades of being let down by the Tories. Why would they trust DC? Nigel Farage is an empty vessel who tells people whatever they want to hear. He is pretty skilful and with no track record to speak of, he presented himself as a new and different type of politician.

Which anyone with half a brain can see is bollocks.

BoJo and Gove are Tories too, yet they voted for them.

He has plenty of track record as a politician and it is easy to look up his past policies and what he has said.

But if you chose to vote for what you wanted in your head, rather than what eas beinh debated. Thats fine.

I agree with your OP, OP. I think its diversity is a great strength of London. It has long been a multi cultural city so people here don't fear (or dislike) different cultures as it's been this way for a long long time. There is no choice but to get along otherwise the city would grind to a halt and by and large, in my view, people get along well enough most of the time. I like the range of cultures and languages you see and hear, it's more interesting. And there are plenty of English people here too, whatever John Cleese may think.

The stereotyping of London on here is exactly why the Brexit vote and campaign by the Brexit Party was such bollocks. It is all about tribalism and division.

Nobody in London understands what it is like in the deprived north? I and quite a few of my friends and neighbours come from the north and do know the impact that austerity has had both there AND in London. Nobody as far as I know in the north is being exciled from friends and family and sent to live somewhere miles away because they are poor. Teachers and nurses are not finding themselves homeless and living from food banks either. We also know that not all the north is poor and working class and the older comfortably off middle class are also part of the demographic, older, educated who accounted for most of the Brexit vote but turbo charged by resentment about those out of touch Londoners. Look at those people always crowding out Nigel? Generally older portly middle class men..... When Nigel was a sad loser and relic of the Neanderthal old fashioned stock broker wankers propping up the bar in the pub in Leadenhall Market Londoners ignored him seeing him for what he really is. We certainly are not responsible for austerity, we are far less likely to have voted Conservative. We have a Labour mayor and Labour and Lib Dem MPs.

I have to laugh at a person who stands in Central London and cultivates their resentment that the people around them speak in a foreign language even though in all probability the vast majority in my experience living here all the time and travelling across it speak perfectly good English or are tourists! Perhaps you are in the queue for Madame Tussaud’s (if so please explain to me why anyone goes to Madame Tussauds, let alone stands in a half mile long queue) . If you really feel entitled to and need to be standing in a nice white homogenous crowd, go to Bromley or Brentwood. Otherwise we need all those EU and non EU citizens to keep the City, creative industries, Science and tech, academia, hospitality etc etc going. I try not to resent anyone but when I think of all the people I know who have or are going to return to their own countries (including a Dutch colleague and friend just yesterday) or are made to feel unwelcome or hear yet another story about the Home Office shooting our economy and academia in the foot by making it difficult for us to work with the rest of the world then I do feel enormous sadness at what has happened to my country.

I don’t really follow you Emily. Are you saying that the north isn’t economically disadvantaged? Simply pointing out the disparity between the north and London is fair comment. Why do you think people resent London? All we want is fairness.

London contributes far more in tax than it gets and always has done.

The north is in net tax deficit and has been since the 50s and before.

Fairness?

You are already subsidised.

We all understand that the north could use more investment btw, but saying "fairness is ridiculous.

We wouldn’t need to be ‘subsidised’ if opportunities were fair. The contribution we made to the wealth of the nation during the industrial revolution was immense. The city of London is undoubtedly wealthy but the contribution of the people who worked in the cotton mills and coal mines is in my view far greater than traders, whose only job is to make the rich richer.

putting your hopes in the ex bankers, insurance tycoons and inherited wealth millionaires of brexit was an interesting choice...perhaps they've secretly been doing things for poorer communities throughout their careers? oh wait, wait- no they havent.

But that's your opinion not fact. The industrial revolution also happened in London.

Wigan and the rest of the north benefit massively from London and have done for decades.