London versus the provinces

Waterloo Bridge and the City

 

 

London has always been a very different place from the provinces.  You get a flavour of it even in the novels of Jane Austen - one of my favourite quotes is from Emma, where the heroine's "very good opinion of Frank Churchill was a little shaken...by hearing that he was gone off to London, merely to have his hair cut."   

In our own time, London is not just the centre of sophistication and style portrayed in Jane Austen's novels: it is almost a separate country - a place where other languages are spoken as much as English, and where the quiet rhythms of rural life are entirely alien.

This is not in itself surprising, but the increasing gulf between London and the provinces strikes me as giving rise to a variety of concerns.  I was made to think of these when reading an article today in the Guardian  about the rise of UKIP which argued that the reason why the main political parties are losing out is because of a general disenchantment with the professionalisation of politics - the slick party machines and presentation that emerged above all with Tony Blair.  It was argued that people in the country generally feel that politicians are no longer in touch with them and their concerns - whereas Mr Farage, with his pint and cigarette, is.

There's a degree of truth in this.  But there's also a feeling that things are being decided in a city-state that is itself so different from the rest of the country that it's almost like being governed from abroad.  This brings out another area of concern.  The question of climate change and its impact on energy usage and agriculture is far more important than how many Romanians or Bulgarians will be permitted to enter the UK.  But if you live in a massive capital city, far from the elemental forces of nature, you are likely to consider the priorities reversed.  

London is a wonderful, fascinating and stimulating place to live.  But 80% of the UK's inhabitants live outside it.  Sometimes that needs to be remembered.

Antony Mair 

View of Hastings from East Hill