[Livia]

It does not make sense to me.

The East End I knew has gone. The East End my family knew has long gone. And I’m not talking about immigrants, the East End has always been a huge melting pot of cultures and nationalities. My own borough had the docks, which meant people from all over the world settling there, indeed, it was the first borough where incomers outnumbered white indigenous people and we all rubbed along quite nicely thank you. But now it’s all changed. Communities are being pushed out by wealthy incomers. Local people can’t afford the extortionate prices of flats and houses in areas where their families have lived for generations. The East End had a culture all of its own and now it’s gone, replaced by swanky apartments with all the architectural merit of a shoe box, glamorously upcycled old buildings, bistros and organic delis. I don’t know whether you can still buy a good old Jewish bagel in Aldgate but I’d bet you can’t. Blooms of Aldgate, probably the best known kosher deli in London, shut a few years ago and the last pie and mash shop in East Ham closed around the same time.

Such a shame that communities and a culture all of its own has been sold on for a profit.