Earlier this month, in a corruscating piece of writing, Ian Dunt, author and columnist for The i Paper, tried to explain the phenomenon of right-wing politicians – including Croydon South MP Chris Philp – and commentators who have taken to criticising the capital city, bemoaning its dirty streets, high prices and the state of public transport.
“Conservative leadership hopeful Robert Jenrick spent a day recently chasing fare dodgers around London Tube stations, like some kind of shithouse Inspector Morse.
“His audience was not Londoners. It was people outside of London. The message was that the capital is crime ridden, collapsing, morally decaying,” Dunt wrote.
Dunt’s article (which is on Substack and can be read in full by clicking here) seeks to articulate how the Brexit hard-right of British politics, the people who said that they would “take back control”, but somehow opened the way for even more immigration, are now fuming, and how a successful capital city, and multi-cultural cities such as Birmingham, Liverpool and Glasgow, too, thoroughly undermine their argument.
“On the face of it, London is a strange target to pick, because it is so preposterously successful. It generates close to a quarter of the UK’s entire economic output. Along with the south-east, it is the only region of the UK with a net fiscal surplus.
Philp fury: ‘Oi. You! What have you been using this food delivery bicycle for, may I ask?’
“It remains the most economically productive region in the UK, with output per hour 28.5% higher than the national average. Its key sectors, which help provide all this growth, do so on the basis of immigrant labour. Each migrant worker contributes £46,000 in Gross Value Added to London’s economy per year.
“London is also a success on a deeper and more important level. It is a triumph of multiculturalism.”
Ian Dunt is our guest on our latest Andrew Fisher Interview podcast, where he discusses the somewhat sinister attacks on London, and its Mayor, Sir Sadiq Khan, and quite what lies behind it all.
And yes, there’s a few gags at the expense of Chris Philp and his slightly demented anti-immigrant videos.
The Andrew Fisher Interview, from our Under The Flyover podcast strand, is exclusive, premium content for Inside Croydon’s paying subscribers. Click here to sign up now to listen- Click here to listen to our previous Andrew Fisher Interview, with economics professor Jo Michell
- And click here to listen to The Andrew Fisher Interview with John McDonnell MP
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Remind me, why are Dabner’s closing?
Online shopping, people tightening their belts and fewer having pets?
Dabners said increased costs (under the current government) and shoplifting.
None of which fits the Brexit hard-right’s anti-London agenda, as Peter seems to be insinuating.
Just been in there, and one other reason for closure is that online sales never really took off. “We couldn’t compete,” one of the shopkeepers said.
Looks like Jeff Bezos has claimed another scalp.
Because most kids in 2025 have xboxes and not hamsters.
Or goldfish.
Ian’s right about London’s success but seems to deny the crime and knife epidemics. Knife crime was up 16% last year, reaching a 14-year high of 15,859 offences. Poor Ian must go through life with people mispronouncing his surname, as the lefties did with late unlamented Jeremy. I know you despise Chris Philp, but I have never heard him ‘despise’ London. My impression is he loves London and cares about its problems.
Philp is a leading member of the Conservative party. They defunded the police. They cut police numbers and closed police stations. They also defunded youth services, the courts, prisons and probations services. Tory economic policy, known as “austerity”, has had terrible consequences for our justice system, and caused hundreds of deaths.
On 4 December 2023, Philp, then the government Minister of State for Crime, Policing and Fire, answered a written question from Helen Hayes, the MP for
Dulwich and West Norwood, on banning machetes and zombie knives.
His reply was that “on 30 August 2023 the Government response to our consultation on new knife legislation was published confirming that the Government will seek to legislate to ban certain types of large knives and machetes. The ban on zombie style machetes and knives will be implemented by secondary legislation when parliamentary time allows.” No urgency there.
These weapons were finally banned on 24 September 2024.
Philp, being an opportunist on the make, is desperately trying to pin the blame on Mayor Sadiq Khan and the Labour government for the consequences of Conservative actions.
He’s a hypocrite with blood on his hands
There is a collection of politicians that just want to moan endlessly about Britain and blame it on people who don’t look like them … it is tedious.
Celebrating the good things about Britain wouldn’t go amiss as would worrying about education, law & order, the environment and economy would be a better use of time than a millionaire chasing down some poor bloke trying to earn £2 delivering a pizza.