06-27-2016, 02:30 AM
Often overlooked, but there are places that have thrived on immigration..
Supercharged by globalization, the growth of finance and technology, and the arrival of ambitious young people from all over the world, London now has far more in common with New York and Hong Kong than, say, Blackpool. In a country riven by questions of immigration and identity, it has peaceably integrated a population that’s more than one-third foreign born, including almost 1 million EU citizens -- whose future status in the U.K. is now uncertain. Its population is far younger and better educated than the British average.
Yet a place apart is what it’s become. Some 1.4 million immigrants live in inner London, according to Oxford University’s Migration Observatory, with another 1.7 million in its more distant boroughs. All of North East England, which turned out strongly for Leave, has about 132,000 migrants in total. Disposable household income per head in London is 54 percent higher than in Wales, and 52 percent higher than in Yorkshire.
Not far away, in the heart of the financial district, the mood was despairing. "Our fear is not the next days or weeks," said Tim Cuddeford, a partner at management consulting firm Crossbridge. "Our fear is for the long-term future of the city and its significance in the world." Some Londoners are wondering if they should even follow the example of Scotland, which also voted to stay in the EU. That divergence with the U.K. as a whole led Nicola Sturgeon, the leader of the ruling Scottish National Party, to all but promise a second referendum on secession.
Down and Out in London as Wealthy Capital Outvoted on Brexit - Bloomberg