#jamescraig

New Post has been published on http://www.tiggerreviews.com/london-calls-to/

London Calls to?

A complex story with a surprise ending!

And clearly based on some political characters we know and love in the UK…

So we start with Xavier, the spoilt twin of Edgar, who are both interested in being Prime Minister of England, but currently Edgar is, with Xavier promised the next turn..

Xavier rides a bike – rather reluctantly into work at the Houses of Parliament to illustrate their green credentials – only he is followed by his minder, his briefcase and his suit in the chauffeured limousine… not only was this hypocrisy but he had been caught several times breaking traffic laws on camera… (much like most fast cyclists in London I have to say – at traffic light crossings it’s the cyclists who nearly run me down not the cars jumping the lights!).

As a result of his bad biking behaviour there is a petition to get him back on his bike – fuelled by Xavier himself faking a number of signatures…(fake voters, now where have I heard about that recently?) as with most ‘fake’ voting it failed and he had to continue – and to add injury to this failure when  his bike was  stolen, the  bike was returned – un like my husband’s 2 Bromptons.

So we have the ‘Golden Twins’ Edgar and Xavier from a very privileged background – that came back to bite them. As some of our UK politicians have found before, that which happens at Oxbridge doesn’t stay hidden forever.

I have 3 main criticisms of this book:

Whilst James Craig lives in London he has not quite kept up with the times – the Thames is full of life. In 2011 when this book was published,  it was full of salmon, eels and even dolphins.

Yes, the public transport system is chronically underfunded but not unreliable. Except for certain exceptions. Where else will you know that a tube train will be along in less than 2 minutes –  or that a bus will be 5 mins –  unless it says otherwise? It is chronically over-full, but personally I blame the ever increasing numbers of tourists on that! It has improved since 2011 I’ll give him that.

And Brick Lane again – is known for being part of the up and coming areas – it had a porridge cafe with a chocolate hazelnut and quinoa porridge, but which was forced to close due to its high prices which caused a number of demonstrations against it – and its gentrification of the area (re-opening in March as a pop-up just down the road). Yet Tower Hamlets, the borough in which Brick Lane is situated also has extreme wealth in the Canary Wharf area, and is very close to the the tech hub of the Silicon Roundabout.