John Cleese Sparks Twitter Storm: ‘London isn’t an English city anymore’

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John Cleese caused a stir on Twitter this morning, after he tweeted about London not being an “English city anymore”.

The Fawlty Towers and Monty Python star commented: “Some years ago I opined that London was not really an English city any more….Since then, virtually all my friends from abroad have confirmed my observation”

He also went on to note that London “was the UK city that voted most strongly to remain in the EU.”

Cleese is a frevent supporter of Brexit. He explained that the reason he voted Leave : “I don’t want to be ruled by Brussels bureaucrats who want to create a super state.”

RT reports: Needless to say the controversial remarks have loosed a maelstrom of responses on the social network with many rushing to tell the 79-year-old why he is wrong.

David Aaronovitch, a columnist with the Times, sought to give Cleese a brief history and geography lesson: “London has long been a British city, John. Which you might expect, what with it being the capital.”

However numerous people supported Cleese’s views: “The texture and fabric of life in London is not quintessentially English. And many ethnic English outside of London all say the same thing,” author Thomas Clements responded.

Some noted that Cleese’s observations were a clear-cut case of confirmation bias while others noted the comedian’s comments were supported by the facts on the ground.


Several commenters chimed in to say that London’s multiculturalism is a natural product of Britain’s colonial past. While many more were happy just to crack jokes.

4 Comments

  1. Recently I became a fan of English/Brit soap operas and noticed that only 50% of the actors were white, supposedly a reflection of Britain’s reality.

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