A Tangled Web

Multiculturalism Gone Mad

 

The last two days in London have only made me realise how glad I was to have escaped the place back in 1993.  Yes I did spend some very happy teenage years down there, and London does have a fair amount of positives.  That said, the city has become bigger (it was already the biggest city in Europe), shabbier and frighteningly more multicultural since I lived there in the 1980's and early 1990's.  Our two days were a mixture of packed trains, packed tubes, filthy streets, shoddy buildings and disgustingly expensive shops.  Having visited Paris, Berlin, Moscow, Madrid and Rome, I can safely say that I would recommend a visit to any of these five cities long before I would advise on a holiday to the British capital.

 

I don't use the term 'frighteningly more multicultural' lightly.  London has long-standing immigrant communities from the Commonwealth - some of whom have resided in the city for nigh on two centuries.    I am not talking about the black and Asian peoples from the New Commonwealth - many of whom have contributed to the cultural fabric of the city.  I am talking about the myriad of different ethnic groups coming from countries which have no imperial ties to the United Kingdom.  They are now to be found in such numbers, London can no longer be regarded as even a vestigially British city.  Myself and my friend browsed in shops managed and staffed by Senegalese, Mexicans, Vietnamese, Brazilians, French, Spanish, Indonesians and Iranians, to name but a few.

 

Multiculturalism is akin to applying facial make-up.  A modest amount can enhance a person's positive features considerably: too much make-up makes one look cheap and repugnant.  London, by becoming a melting pot for hundreds of different cultures has, in my view, cheapened its appeal considerably.