I'm a Londoner, I used to have this friend (who is not a Londoner) we had a huge disagreement on topic unspecified. But after I've watched this video I think I see his viewpoint, which is true. I just don't see it at all because there's such a enormous disconnect between London and the rest of the country.
I would recommend you to watch the video as well, some arguments made in the video are slightly misleading, but the general picture is clear and true.
Yep, if you visit London as a Northerner it's very clear where the money is going. In retrospect, the Northern legs of HS2 were never going to happen - the money saved being diverted to fix London's potholes was the icing on the cake.
I mean it's worth remembering that some of the poorest areas in the country are in London. https://citymonitor.ai/community/uk-census-tower-hamlets-has-the-worst-child-poverty-rates-in-the-uk
Basically, the government doesn't give a shit about poor people regardless of where they live. They just want to ensure that hedge fund managers living in Surrey can commute into their London office with a minimum of inconvenience.
Yeah, even London isn’t all that. It’s more like a third world country bolted onto the Square Mile, and the same thing is now happening to Ireland.