Wednesday 14 March 2012

London Pride

Why is it no longer fashionable to speak up for London? To avoid being accused of London-Centricity, the BBC relocated a large part of its workforce to Salford - a small yet uninspiring hamlet somewhere near Manchester. The London Bugle does not wish to denigrate other cities or towns, but asks the question why should the importance of London be downgraded? London is after all the capital; it is the seat of government and it is the place where the important decisions are made. The Queen also lives here. True, Her Majesty has other places of residence, but London is where the Crown Jewels are kept. According to the song, ‘wherever I lay my hat, that’s my home’ - and millinery doesn’t get much better than the Royal Crown.  Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) once remarked that “when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life”. What would Johnson have made of London today with its useless and toothless assembly? Scotland, by comparison, has its own Parliament. Scotland has done very well for itself thanks to one-sided devolution, but the Scottish population is much smaller than London. In fact the population of London is roughly the same as Scotland and Wales put together. It’s time to reinstate London Pride, to put right this democratic deficit and stop the tail wagging the dog. - Bugler

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