Its pretty much like any other European capital I’ve visited, no need for folk to get upset cos the bloke tells it aa he sees it. Too many on a hair trigger instantly offended by anything with a whiff of criticism over immigration. Blokes a comedy legend leave him be.
It’s an opinion , not an opinion I agree with but nonetheless it’s an opinion. However if he didn’t want a reaction or expect differing reactions then he wouldn’t have used the platform he had . The fact he put it out there says imo he wanted to debate his opinion and have it argued which is what has happened. His opinion that it’s not what it used to be says to me he never visited the slums or less affluent areas of London . To say it was all middle England middle class shows how little he knew London at all imo . Everywhere in this country had been settled by different communities . According to some books the rural town of Barnsley had problems when they were overrun by outsiders settling to join the Linen,glass, coal mines etc etc. Most villages,Towns, Cities in the world have been re settled for years . London was always known for its diversity in different cultures as have most cities in the world. He’s put it out there so imo he should be debated but not abused or wrongly labelled .
Very well put Marlon, I’m sure that London in the swinging sixties was a very different place than it is now.
Can't a city be both? There's so much culture in London that's no greater/lesser than other English towns and cities, it's just within a thriving cosmopolitan city. Obviously London is so vast in size and differs so much from 'zone to zone', but I feel as quintessentially English down here in places as I do in Bath, York, Oxford and Cambridge.
Fair point. There's nothing wrong with quintessential englishness either. If everywhere was the same it would be boring.
No problem with that. I think he's referring more to the American homogenous domination of the high street at the loss of its unique little shops and businesses. London has never been anything but cosmopolitan, ever since the Romans landed. Except when it was an inland sea. Pretty sure most inhabitants were local then... And when old Teddy Longshanks kicked the Jewish people out..
I don't think they're offensive comments, just kinda funny when he immigrated himself. To my understanding there has been diversity in the UK for hundreds of years.
Being loyal and proud of your own culture dosen’t mean you hate other cultures. Many of these guys throwing the term ‘racist’ about don’t even know what it means.
If he'd closed his initial post with the points he made in the second tweet (polite, humour, less tabloid), instead of an inaccurate observation on the EU referendum, there wouldn't have been as much reaction.
It's actually 37%. Or 3.32 million. Still a sizeable chunk. http://worldpopulationreview.com/world-cities/london-population/ Why do you say "little Englander" places as a pejorative? Bet you wouldn't go to Mogadishu and say the same thing about somalians. Of course you wouldn't.
Give over. If you went to parts of Spain with a big British ex-pat population you'd say they've ruined it and it's no longer Spanish. And you would be applauded for saying it.
My dad grew up in south London in this era. He might be interested in your opinion of his era from an outsider marlon. Please expand on your opinion of his childhood. While we’re at it, he supports Millwall and dulwich hamlet, again please touch on his own area from your experience. I’m sure he awaits with baited breath.
Staggering hypocrisy really. Foreign people coming to this country enhance the culture, English people moving abroad destroy the native culture.
Thank you for acknowledging your error. On your second point. As my Physics teachers once said of my 8% exam result, “not even worthy of comment lad.”