Daniel Whale

All these things happened to me in London today I paid nearly £30 for a train ticket to take me into London from a town just 30 miles away —on a Saturday The first person I sat next to, I think from India, decided to have a FaceTime conversation with his friend on speakerphone so we all had to listen to it The train was late by 40 minutes due to unexplained “signalling issues”. It was also filthy. I paid nearly £8 for a pint I offered a woman my seat on the tube without realising she was with a man who intervened and said “no man”. He was not from the UK. I think he took my gesture as an insult. I was asked for money by homeless people 3 times in one day I noticed several people who are paid to give information to taxpayers and tourists over the tannoy on the London Tube cannot speak English properly A cabbie told me “London is dead most nights”, unless you are the global high net worth set or top 1% Restaurants are visibly struggling and often hideously overpriced I had dinner in a neighbourhood where the average rent is £3,663 per month while half of all local social housing has gone to people who were not even born in the UK I was constantly aware I should not get my phone out on the street as 80,000 were stolen last year I also read on the way back while checking that stat that there were 90,000 shoplifting offences in London last year, up 54% My train back —delayed—was suddenly changed at the last minute with all passengers on board. They were told it would no longer be stopping at all stops. I bought a tin of instant coffee on the way home and it had a security tag on it Maybe I’m in a bad mood and perhaps it’s amusing to think how somebody of my political outlook is “triggered” but to me there is a deeper point here London is over —it’s so over It’s a city in visible decline with deteriorating standards and no real sense of identity or belonging Going in and out of our capital city is a truly miserable experience Infrastructure is falling apart, as is the social contract I’ve been coming in and out of London since 1981 I simply cannot remember a time when it’s been this visibly dire and when so many things just do not work as they should