At the heart of our great capital is a set of paradoxes. How can such an old city, with so much history, be so full of innovation and technology? Why is London so anonymous but so obsessed with personalities? How can one of the most densely populated cities be so green? How can it have so many ancient academic institutions at the forefront of modern science? Why does a city so typically British feel like home to global guests?
How does it exist as a cohesive location when London is, in reality, a collection of communities and identities? For instance, why does it not have its own football club? Every major city in the world has a football club — Madrid, Munich, Milan, even Moscow, but not London. One third of the Premier League’s clubs are here, but not one bears London’s name. How does such a huge global city have so many specific identities?
You could ask these questions about our nation as a whole. London, in particular, reminds me of the aerodynamics of the bumble bee. It shouldn’t work — but somehow it does.
The reason is that it maintains a balance of old and new, diversity and unity, tradition and tolerance, supply and demand, rich and poor, dreams and delivery; these are delicate and subtle mechanisms. Gradually, over time, it gets into your veins.
It’s understandable then that a city with so many people would get used to sharing resources, transport, recreation, worship and commerce. This would, in theory, make it comfortable with a collectivist ideology. Actually though, it isn’t. London is successful because it is usually more pragmatic than political. Its success depends upon it.
A gifted city
It depends on the innate sense of balance which is built into its fabric. At its core, London is regulated and balanced by delicately calibrated but conflicting forces. The rights of the individual and those of the community. The needs of the capital versus local decision-making. Police powers and the principle of consent. A pragmatic approach to protest, policing and planning is needed. So too, in ensuring that we can attract investors and talent, while guarding against illicit finance. Balance in immigration is needed too.
Young people arrive with their talents from every part of the UK and the world, businesses from all over the world come here to employ them — like ingredients from Smithfield, Covent Garden and Billingsgate destined for a thousand different recipes from a hundred countries and cultures. London doesn’t really care where you’re from, only where you’re going.
To maintain that balance and pragmatism requires vision, understanding and a political will. Otherwise, London becomes a city of laws without enforcement, whether that’s over electric bikes or knife crime. It will be a capital without capital if Labour’s expected punishment of wealth creators comes to pass in the Budget later this month. Opportunity will be denied, not created.
London points the way forward in business, as the world becomes more regulated. It has the capacity to be nimble and pragmatic, since our nation chose to regulate itself outside the orbit of the EU. More reform and more partnerships are needed. That needs a mayor and government interested in supply side reforms, beyond planning.
Our predecessors bequeathed London one of the most powerful locations in the world. The Greenwich Meridian sits perfectly positioned at the centre of the world’s business day. They knew that the business of London is business. The business of Britain is business. Without business, no government can exist, no public service can be provided, no nation can be successful. We should never forget that. What will our gift to future generations be?
Build, build, build
We can start with remembering our history, achievements and traditions. They help us prepare for the future. By all means, wave an EU flag at the Last Night of the Proms, that’s your right. Just remember, though, that without Britain, there would have been no Europe. Over the centuries, Britain has been the conscience of Europe. Whenever the balance of power was upset, Britain has acted. It was in London that the United Nations was established. We understand the rights of the individual. We invented them. Human rights create the conditions for business. Without property and contract rights there is no trade, only exploitation. And we understand the necessity of the sovereignty of nations. Today we should protect both.
And we can create and renew. Perhaps the most enduring of the balances for London has been between that of the future and the past. The pace of change has accelerated in recent years. London now contains the largest building site in Europe around the Battersea Power Station complex. To visit it is to take a trip to the future. It’s very typically London. Recognisable industrial architecture within which has been fitted hundreds of shops, office and restaurants.
Think old Covent Garden on steroids. It’s been brilliantly done and it’s still only at phase one. A capital city may be where a nation’s government and its leaders work. But to everyone else, both here and around the world, London is much more than that. It’s an example of how the conflicting forces of the world can be held in check with tolerance, common sense and pragmatism. At a time when our political leaders are so overwhelmingly of one political hue, it is important we recognise this. It may be our capital, but it may also be the world’s best hope for a vision of the future.
Penny Mordaunt is a former leader of the House of Commons and was Portsmouth North MP 2010-24
