A car that has intrigued me!

[markjay]

If only we could find a Prime Minister who was committed to that kind of decentralisation...

It also needs acknowledging that the big population growth in London is not people moving in from the Provinces, it's folks moving in from abroad, with now 40% of London's population have been born outside the UK. (It's obvious to any Londoner, but folks outside often don't get it.)

Isn't it the case with (almost) all major cities in Western Europe? Are the populations of Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester, Bradford, etc, any less diverse than London? Or Paris or Frankfurt etc? The affluent and democratic West attracts people from all over the world - nothing wrong with that.

I mentioned this to a colleague recently and was called a racist.

Isn't it the case with (almost) all major cities in Western Europe? Are the populations of Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester, Bradford, etc, any less diverse than the population of London? Or Paris or Frankfurt etc? The affluent and democratic West attracts people from all over the world - nothing wrong with that.

 

[markjay]

I mentioned this to a colleague recently and was called a racist.

Isn't it the case with (almost) all major cities in Western Europe? Are the populations of Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester, Bradford, etc, any less diverse than the population of London? Or Paris or Frankfurt etc? The affluent and democratic West attracts people from all over the world - nothing wrong with that (as long as they abide by the host countries' immigration rules) .

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

We don't eat the dead out here in the provinces, you know.

Skeggy's lovely, but it's not the natural destination for a French banker who moved to the UK a decade ago. (No schools doing IB). Ditto second generation Pakistanis running retail businesses. Ditto Swedes who fly to European countries early morning twice a week. Or the Canadian running "extreme athletic" excursion packaged holidays.

But enough of my neighbours.

It's a serious point.

I love your bit of the coast. I've worked in Grimsby and done a lot of work with food businesses in the area "back in the day." I know how great the area is - especially when the wind isn't blowing down straight from the Urals. My point is that it's not the natural destination for incomers.

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

Isn't it the case with (almost) all major cities in Western Europe? Are the populations of Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester, Bradford, etc, any less diverse than the population of London? Or Paris or Frankfurt etc? The affluent and democratic West attracts people from all over the world - nothing wrong with that (as long as they abide by the host countries' immigration rules) .

Some European capital cities, yes, but non-capital cities generally: no.

Northern cities? Not at all, you're confusing Indian cultural arrivals with the multi-cultural folk in London. "If" (and I don't know if its correct) Manchester has 40% of its population born abroad, they're not as multinational as the London. If you're Japanese, Chinese, Arab, Thai, Australian, Kiwi, South African, Zimbabwean, Austrian, American, Canadian, Mexican.... Bradford isn't your natural destination.