One of the flaws/brilliant things about a newsletter publishing model that tries to mix the light, the serious, the breaking, and the curious in a single mailout is…. it creates a truly deranged comment section. This is a perfect example and I love it.
"most of the people who don’t live here “pity” those who live in London." - why do mayoral candidates think this kind of line is a vote winner? I don't think too much of Khan, but he does a good job praising London and showing genuine pride for the city. Why should any Londoner vote for someone who talks the city down?
OK so to engage with this from a political positioning perspective on why this might work to a limited degree...
1) There's lots of people in certain outer London boroughs who don't consider themselves Londoners, reject the 1965 extension of London's borders, view themselves as Kent/Essex/Hertfordshire/etc and under the yoke of a distant Inner London power that doesn't understand their lives. They get a vote in London mayoral elections! Most of these people do not vote Reform but they're more likely to share the demographic characteristics with those that do!
2) All of us are products of our media consumption habits which shapes how we view the world. Video of bad things happening in London is far more prevalent now than a decade ago, with clips of violence/shoplifting/whatever much easier to film and then distribute. Plus - as well-documented here - there are certain crimes and criminal activities that are de facto legalised in London.
3) This is a message that works very well for Reform UK outside of London. "Capital decline" is a very clickable topic for non-London. "Don't let your town become like London" is a message that works elsewhere.
In short, it would be a massive challenge for Reform UK to win a mayoral contest after the return to the alternative vote system. But if they can get 30% of the vote concentrated in specific areas of London they'll be running multiple councils.
I'm sure the Met are going to be delighted to be required to stop and search everyone they see wearing a mask, considering a lot of especially older people still wear them in public places to avoid COVID. Not sure frisking grannies for shivs is a good look for Reform.
And speaking of fascists, I'm surprised that film production didn't just use Senate House like everyone else does (even if that whole thing about being earmarked by Göring as occupation HQ is total nonsense).
When I briefly worked at Greater London House (FKA Carreras Cigarette Factory), decades ago, I was told that it was earmarked by the Nazis as their occupation HQ. Maybe there's a good follow up story on the best London buildings to film as fascist HQs. I'm sure Grok can create some mock-ups to support the article.
Having contracted for ASOS there a few years ago, I find it quite easy to picture the place being occupied by a repressive and capricious yet very well dressed regime. 😉
I've lived in London nearly all my life, all over the city, and Reform have no idea what they're talking about. Of course it has problems - what city doesn't? – but it's a pretty safe and often amazing place to live. Anyone who doesn't live here and 'pities' us would be better advised to save their pity for people who really deserve it.
I wear a mask when travelling by public transport as I have long covid and don’t want to get sick.
The idea that I’ll be stopped and searched as a result is quite brilliant from Reform and I also look forward to them making families homeless to house “Londoners”. Perhaps they can use your man’s “how London are you” web app to decide?!
Amen for the call to change e-bike payment structure. I’m all for more people cycling and fewer cars on the roads, but unfortunately e-bike users are making it harder for cyclists who adhere to the road rules. It’s already bad enough that vehicle drivers think cyclists are second class citizens on the road, without e-bike cyclists enraging them further by running red lights.
Ok, so yesterday I had to go to Sainsbury's Whitechapel and took a deep look at the cyclists in the area. Among the red light jumpers there were the same amount of folks in rented bikes than in their own.
I don't think a change of payment would do anything. The only change would be an enforcement of rules, something that seems impossible in London. The habit of not respecting the lights is already too settled.
I have already managed to annoy all my friends in Surbiton with the fact they are only 23% London, so thank you, James Darling! Quite pleased with my own 93%. :-)
As for the Reform Mayoral candidate: why is she standing if she hates this city?
I've thought for a while that the pricing model of hire bikes encourages bad behaviour and that a distance rather than time-based model would be better. Not perfect, but better.
An error in line 1 of that Londometer map – Cambridge Heath is a railway station, not tube. Also, distance to nearest Pret is clearly classist and should be balanced with number of nearby chicken shops.
An issue I raised with the creator, along with the strong north-of the-river-bias idea that a bike docking station is in any way a London quality. Let’s just say I concluded its infuriating characteristics very much prove the point of indeterminate London-ness.
I was all ready to roll my eyes at the Cage story, but tbh if the production changed their schedule at the last minute they did not really have a locked-in venue and it’s a problem of their own making (they obviously had a plan B anyway). There probably is a difference in the sensitivity of a local government building being decked out in nazi paraphernalia vs some random spot in Greenwich, where locals are used to regularly tripping over film crews. Happy New Year!
Laila Cunningham was a Conservative Councillor in the area I live, Lancaster Gate. At meetings next to the Labour Councillors she looked amateurish and slightly shambolic. She'd ramble on about basketball and drug dealers approaching children rather than the actual issues facing people living on the estate I live on. She's perfect for Reform.
You write: "The Battle of Brockwell Park, the ongoing saga over whether Lambeth council should let promoters take over the large south London open space for private ticketed events, is once again on the agenda" but the festival site occupies 26% of the park, leaving 74% fully open for public use. Lots of people reading the newsletter will be far away from Lambeth and may not be familiar with the park, you shouldn't give them a false impression the park actually closes.
Deliveroo also need to change their payment structure, and it prioritises dangerous driving. I suspect that if all rules of the road were obeyed the rider would miss their delivery window.
One of the flaws/brilliant things about a newsletter publishing model that tries to mix the light, the serious, the breaking, and the curious in a single mailout is…. it creates a truly deranged comment section. This is a perfect example and I love it.
The important question is how did you work out your (most efficient) route on Christmas eve (the travelling salesman dilemma)?
"most of the people who don’t live here “pity” those who live in London." - why do mayoral candidates think this kind of line is a vote winner? I don't think too much of Khan, but he does a good job praising London and showing genuine pride for the city. Why should any Londoner vote for someone who talks the city down?
OK so to engage with this from a political positioning perspective on why this might work to a limited degree...
1) There's lots of people in certain outer London boroughs who don't consider themselves Londoners, reject the 1965 extension of London's borders, view themselves as Kent/Essex/Hertfordshire/etc and under the yoke of a distant Inner London power that doesn't understand their lives. They get a vote in London mayoral elections! Most of these people do not vote Reform but they're more likely to share the demographic characteristics with those that do!
2) All of us are products of our media consumption habits which shapes how we view the world. Video of bad things happening in London is far more prevalent now than a decade ago, with clips of violence/shoplifting/whatever much easier to film and then distribute. Plus - as well-documented here - there are certain crimes and criminal activities that are de facto legalised in London.
3) This is a message that works very well for Reform UK outside of London. "Capital decline" is a very clickable topic for non-London. "Don't let your town become like London" is a message that works elsewhere.
In short, it would be a massive challenge for Reform UK to win a mayoral contest after the return to the alternative vote system. But if they can get 30% of the vote concentrated in specific areas of London they'll be running multiple councils.
I'd expect ( well hope at least) the non-Reform voters will mostly coalesce around the most viable alternative rather than split the non-R vote.
100% this.
The absurd vilification of London by right wing losers is having an impact internationally too.
If Sadiq is so unpopular, his record three terms must be some sort of mirage…
I'm sure the Met are going to be delighted to be required to stop and search everyone they see wearing a mask, considering a lot of especially older people still wear them in public places to avoid COVID. Not sure frisking grannies for shivs is a good look for Reform.
And speaking of fascists, I'm surprised that film production didn't just use Senate House like everyone else does (even if that whole thing about being earmarked by Göring as occupation HQ is total nonsense).
When I briefly worked at Greater London House (FKA Carreras Cigarette Factory), decades ago, I was told that it was earmarked by the Nazis as their occupation HQ. Maybe there's a good follow up story on the best London buildings to film as fascist HQs. I'm sure Grok can create some mock-ups to support the article.
Having contracted for ASOS there a few years ago, I find it quite easy to picture the place being occupied by a repressive and capricious yet very well dressed regime. 😉
Weird that Laila Cunningham is the candidate for a party whose members and voters don’t think she counts as British. Or indeed human.
oh she thinks she is one of the good ones. One of the exceptions.
I've lived in London nearly all my life, all over the city, and Reform have no idea what they're talking about. Of course it has problems - what city doesn't? – but it's a pretty safe and often amazing place to live. Anyone who doesn't live here and 'pities' us would be better advised to save their pity for people who really deserve it.
I wear a mask when travelling by public transport as I have long covid and don’t want to get sick.
The idea that I’ll be stopped and searched as a result is quite brilliant from Reform and I also look forward to them making families homeless to house “Londoners”. Perhaps they can use your man’s “how London are you” web app to decide?!
Amen for the call to change e-bike payment structure. I’m all for more people cycling and fewer cars on the roads, but unfortunately e-bike users are making it harder for cyclists who adhere to the road rules. It’s already bad enough that vehicle drivers think cyclists are second class citizens on the road, without e-bike cyclists enraging them further by running red lights.
Ok, so yesterday I had to go to Sainsbury's Whitechapel and took a deep look at the cyclists in the area. Among the red light jumpers there were the same amount of folks in rented bikes than in their own.
I don't think a change of payment would do anything. The only change would be an enforcement of rules, something that seems impossible in London. The habit of not respecting the lights is already too settled.
I have already managed to annoy all my friends in Surbiton with the fact they are only 23% London, so thank you, James Darling! Quite pleased with my own 93%. :-)
As for the Reform Mayoral candidate: why is she standing if she hates this city?
I've thought for a while that the pricing model of hire bikes encourages bad behaviour and that a distance rather than time-based model would be better. Not perfect, but better.
An error in line 1 of that Londometer map – Cambridge Heath is a railway station, not tube. Also, distance to nearest Pret is clearly classist and should be balanced with number of nearby chicken shops.
An issue I raised with the creator, along with the strong north-of the-river-bias idea that a bike docking station is in any way a London quality. Let’s just say I concluded its infuriating characteristics very much prove the point of indeterminate London-ness.
Swapping Pret out for Morley's would easily fix a north London bias.
I wish there was a Morley's in South Hackney 🙁
Clear North London bias there! My nearest station is on the tube map (Thameslink, Zone 3), but instead it gives me Elizabeth Line in Zone 4. Outraged
It also thinks Highams Park is a tube station. in fact it thinks any stations on the Weaver Line are tube stations.
It also thinks Lewisham, Abbey Wood, and New Cross are tube stations. The Elizabeth Line and Overground lines are NOT tube lines!
I was all ready to roll my eyes at the Cage story, but tbh if the production changed their schedule at the last minute they did not really have a locked-in venue and it’s a problem of their own making (they obviously had a plan B anyway). There probably is a difference in the sensitivity of a local government building being decked out in nazi paraphernalia vs some random spot in Greenwich, where locals are used to regularly tripping over film crews. Happy New Year!
I love James Darling's Londometer. I've had four zone 2 addresses in 29 years, and the most London I've been is 75%.
But if you want to see people come to real blows, do one for New York.
Laila Cunningham was a Conservative Councillor in the area I live, Lancaster Gate. At meetings next to the Labour Councillors she looked amateurish and slightly shambolic. She'd ramble on about basketball and drug dealers approaching children rather than the actual issues facing people living on the estate I live on. She's perfect for Reform.
You write: "The Battle of Brockwell Park, the ongoing saga over whether Lambeth council should let promoters take over the large south London open space for private ticketed events, is once again on the agenda" but the festival site occupies 26% of the park, leaving 74% fully open for public use. Lots of people reading the newsletter will be far away from Lambeth and may not be familiar with the park, you shouldn't give them a false impression the park actually closes.
Deliveroo also need to change their payment structure, and it prioritises dangerous driving. I suspect that if all rules of the road were obeyed the rider would miss their delivery window.
Huh! SE7 is in Greenwich. And we are definitely an Inner London Borough. Someone needs to go back to their geography textbook.