https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/nov/03/sadiq-khan-no-go-hellscape-britain-cities-rightwing-agitators
>sometimes [cities] work and sometimes they don’t, but we embrace them nonetheless because in their forced intimacy, in their inexorable flow of ideas and influences and cuisines, they are the fullest expression of what it is to be human.
>Despite the pandemic, the cost of living crisis and the best efforts of lads with flag bios on X, the percentage of the UK population living in urban areas is still growing at about 1% a year. And so to wish the city away, to dream of cleansing or restoring it to a fictional state of authenticity, is ultimately as futile as separating the cake back into its constituent ingredients. So get stuck in traffic. Date someone from a different race. Eat all the food. Lose yourself in Sadiq’s no-go hellscape. As it ever was, and always will be, the greatest advocate for the city will be the city itself.