Austerity
times 25 June 2012
London the great city and capital of England woke up a few
years ago to a government that was promising austerity. There were to be cuts
across all government departments that would not impact on frontline services.
Delivery of services was to be paramount.
The reality however was soon to be a bit different. The big
bureaucrats turned out to be surprisingly good at keeping their jobs. The
deliverers of frontline services were of course to suffer. In all government
departments the bloodletting was to commence! Soon the numbers of P45s (leaving
work forms) being issued in the silent holocaust was upon us!
As if to describe the times in London I thought this was a
good title for the series about living in this city at the present time. London
somehow contrives to describe itself as following different trends. In the
years of boom its image tends to speak of the cutting edge of fashion and style
in times of austerity it seems to combine that faded image into itself speaking
of slightly timeworn grandeur. Grandeur that is somewhat fading and receding
into the distance of the years
Now the side of London looks different as all around the cracks
show. Yet in some ways it is surprisingly resilient. Public buildings are still
built. Road works are ubiquitous everywhere and people still go out and enjoy themselves
albeit not so much as before.
