#London & Brexit

Can I set the scene (especially for my overseas readership - ha!). I had to go to London for a half hour appointment to get a Chinese visa. The journey to central London from my home on the Isle of Wight takes 2 to 3 hours. My appointment at the embassy was at 11am and my return journey was booked for 15.30 so I had some time to use. Unusually I had no prior plan. What to do on this bright, dry and cool day?

Well I walked (dawdled) from The Royal Exchange at the junction of Threadneedle Street (location of The Bank of England) and Lombard Street - "The City" - (although much of the banking sector etc have now moved to Docklands to the Canary Wharf area) down Poultry, Cheapside, St Pauls Cathedral, Ludgate Hill, Fleet Street, Strand, Trafalgar Square and Whitehall, Admiralty Arch, The Mall, Horse Guards Parade, St James's Park, Buckingham Palace and Victoria. It is not far - an easy mainly flat walk.

I had plenty of time to observe, think and reflect. Here are some random pearls!

I read somewhere - an observation - "London is a world class city in a 3rd world country". Discuss. Justify! Well this observation makes me smile - sadly. It obviously depends on your assessment criteria. I can see merit in it - but London is not where I would want to live or what I would want our country to be.
Having said that every time I go UP to central London (you go up to London from the South and South West - down to London from the Midlands and the North) - I get a buzz. I think not because of what London is now - but because of its history. It is everywhere - everywhere you walk - every corner you turn - there is a famous building - a famous street name - a landmark - the Thames. It is wonderful in that sense. Samuel Pepys, The Tower - the Fire of London - the Black Death and then Dickens - legacies of Empire - the great Victorians - and Churchill and the 2nd World War. Amazing.
I got to St Pauls Cathedral and sat down outside. The last time I had done so was when I came up to pay respects to Margaret Thatcher on the day of her funeral. Margaret Thatcher was a controversial figure. In my view she saved this country. She would get my vote after Churchill for the greatest British citizen. We owe a huge amount to her. (young people today should read their history and not fall for the cheap propaganda of the socialists regarding the Thatcher era.) If only Maggie was here now. Her commonsense, weight of personality, good values and energy and determination would sort Brexit out. I hoped Theresa May was going to be more like Maggie - but unfortunately she has fallen well short.
It is then down Ludgate Hill where I watched Margaret Thatcher's funeral cortege go by. The crowds were massive that day and they were overwhelmingly respectful and moved. There was a lot of predictions about protesters. There where a handful. They were pitiful.
Central London is prosperous. Every shop unit is filled. It is an up together place. It is good to see - but at what cost to community?
There are a lot of anti terror precautions in situ - massive concrete bollards.
I see a narrow road called Old Bailey. I walk up to the Central Criminal Court. You can go in the public gallery. I have done it before at the High Court and local Crown Courts. A fascinating free watch. But now the rules - no mobile phones and they will not hold them for you. So another day.
I am now in Fleet Street - once where all the national newspapers were printed. A famous red on the Monopoly Board.
It is lunchtime. I rarely drink during the day but I love visiting interesting London pubs. Today it was The Old Bank of England. Here is their marketing blurb. It was very impressive inside. A pint of Fullers London Pride. Only down side. £4.80 per pint!
In the 16th and 17th centuries, two taverns stood on the site of the Old Bank of England. ‘The Cock’ and ‘The Haunch of Venison’ were both demolished in 1888 to make way for the construction of the Law Courts’ branch of The Bank of England.

The Bank of England traded here for 87 years, until 1975, when the premises were sold to a building society. In 1994, London brewers, Fuller, Smith and Turner took over the lease and began a major refurbishment - with the aim of restoring the splendid building to its former glory.

The Old Bank of England also has a more grisly connection with the past, for it lies between the site of the barber shop owned by Sweeney Todd, ‘The Demon Barber of Fleet Street’, and the pie shop owned by Mrs Lovett, his mistress. It was in the tunnels and vaults below the present building that his victims were butchered before being cooked and sold in the pies to Mrs Lovett’s unsuspecting customers.

As the former branch of The Bank of England, the basement still contains the original vaults used to store bullion, and indeed some of the Crown Jewels during the First World War. Whilst two safes have now been changed to hold our cellars and kitchens, the main vault is intact – and still contains the huge steel bullion cupboards.
On to the Strand - pass the High Court - Royal Courts of Justice. The frontage is very familiar - where so many case participants have faced the cameras for the news.
London is relatively quiet today but still it is high pressure living. In to Trafalgar Square, across Whitehall - on to the Mall and into St James's Park (observe maybe the best fed squirrels and birds in the world!) As I have said before the place names are so evocative. Makes you feel you are participating in a living history.
I get to Buckingham Palace. There are ALWAYS mass tourists there. Evidently Liz is not at home - no flag. It is a bland looking building - but she is not short of rooms - ha!

Anyway I am rambling. I spent a lot of time thinking about Brexit. The way it is playing out is driving me nuts - very frustrating - but you can sense why when you visit London.

London voted remain. In fact London has been described as a REMAIN island in a largely national sea of Brexit. Here is the vote analysis. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-eu-referendum-36612916

London is a multicultural melting pot. Immigrant/migrant numbers have been huge and sustained. Tourism and student numbers are massive too. Put together the cultural mix is incredible and dominates. The capital is also the primary base for what might be described as the UK's "liberal elite establishment" - and left leaning "cultural" glitterati - the champagne socialists. Perhaps more than anything it is a honeypot for the wealthy and major international business - particularly service and financial based businesses - now much concerned about our trading relationship with the EU. It is not typical of the rest of the UK. I would go as far as to say London does not feel or act like it is part of the UK. It is anonymous. It is impersonal. It is devoid of collective community. It has its own disparate agendas with powerful pressure groups - all media savvy. People are there for their own reasons - and much is transitory - opportunistic. London and the people that now live there see Brexit as a threat to its/their preeminence and consequently voted for and continue to agitate to stay in the EU - even if it flies in the face of our nations democracy.

Much of the Brexit vote in the UK was to resist becoming like London. To resist London's economic and cultural and political domination - to resist the self serving interest of London. London's agenda and its persona is not what the majority of people want for their country. They want to preserve their communities. They want to make their own rules and plan their own futures. They want to spend their money in the way they want and stand on their own two feet in the world. They are sick of conceding these things and all that goes with it to unelected bureaucrats, political elites - especially left leaning liberal elites and of course international business (only interested in growth and profit). It is not working for them. It is threatening their way of life. They want their nation to be free again even if there is a short term economic cost. There is now a battle - largely characterised as London remoaners against the rest. The rest must win - they have the democratic mandate.

London is great to visit as a tourist or maybe as a place to live for a year or two - but as a way of life - it is not what the majority of the people of the UK want and they have voted to leave the EU accordingly. Hopefully London will be taken down a peg or two in the pecking order and through decentralisation and reduction re engage with the rest of the UK on a unified and common UK agenda. It should mean it will no longer be a honeypot for the EU and that without doubt will be a good thing for the UK overall. Bravo.