London’s ghost neighbourhoods are creeping outwards. These are areas, often populated by workers and students, which are deserted by the weekend, hollowed out by an exodus of young families from the capital. The question is: do we really want to live in a city without children?
The most immediate casualty is school closures. Charlotte Sharman, the only non-faith school in St George’s ward in Southwark, is set to merge with a Church of England primary. Kidbrooke Primary School in Greenwich has faced shutting as pupil numbers drop — with only six families naming it as their first choice this September.
The causes of this phenomenon are manifold: London’s birth rate, the lingering impact of Covid, Brexit departures and the higher cost of living in the capital. Immigration has an impact too. The city badly needs the skills and labour of migrants, but unless we build more homes it will only send costs soaring and force more families to leave.
The government and City Hall must come together to get affordable housing built and help families stay in the place they call home. A child-free London is not the solution.
Tide of antisemitism
The Evening Standard will stop writing about and reporting on antisemitism when people stop committing acts of anti-Jewish racism. Already this week, it has emerged that a five-month-old British Jewish girl’s birth certificate was returned from the Home Office with the father’s birthplace of Israel scribbled out and the document torn. A young child and already a victim of the oldest hatred.
Yesterday, the Star of David necklace on the statue of Amy Winehouse in Camden was found covered with a pro-Palestinian sticker. This is not criticism of Israel or support for a ceasefire — it is a racist attack on Jews and the very notion of Jewishness. Erasing Winehouse’s Judaism, something of which she was deeply proud, is a grotesque and not especially subtle form of anti-Jewish hatred.
Today, many Jews in London are hiding the symbols of their faith out of fear of being attacked. A damning indictment of 21st century Britain, but hardly a surprise when even statues of dead Jews are not safe from racists.
The best of our capital
London Fashion Week was — as usual — the most creative, original and eccentric of the lot. Packed with independent and small businesses punching above their weight, alongside world-renowned big British brands.
Fashion week shows the best of our city, from Tate Britain to Victoria Park, where last night Burberry closed the festivities in style. It is where creativity thrives and talent flourishes. This week has been testament to all that, a stunning example of what the capital does best.
