This difficulty of location is caused by the concentration of industries such as the arts, media, politics, law, finance and more within London. Its thick glass shell is merely one layer of defense in a sprawling five-acre complex that takes the architecture and urbanism of fear to new heights. Piketty (2020) has shown, for example, that the ‘classist’ post-war political party systems in western democracies have given way to systems of multiple elites, in which a party of the highly educated and a party of the wealthy alternate in power (Piketty, 2020).

Sam Bright’s clear-eyed intervention will convince you that regional inequality is the problem — and that now is the time for change. The less educated have ceased to vote for social democratic parties and the same voters have sharply reduced their participation in the political process. US embassy in London, pond section showing public sidewalk at Nine Elms Lane, seat wall and pathway near pond and planting terraces. The work lasted through the reign of Henry III and into that of Edward I, interrupted occasionally by civil unrest. It is labeled as a “bioswale” for environmental purposes, but it just so happens to be conveniently scaled so as to trap any kind of moving vehicle that might try to make a break across the meadow.

Bright regularly refers to Hatherley’s ‘Red Metropolis’ to identify the former Labour Leader and his direction of leadership as too London focused, and alienating. A point that the Centre for London argues is supportive of London as a social mobility ‘hot spot’ for those who already live in London.

As the building was intended to be a comfortable residence as well as a stronghold, latrines were built into the walls, and four fireplaces provided warmth. Although the first chapter applies the classic New Labour slogan ‘Education, Education, Education’, it was my favourite for its structured use of data, personal experience, interviews and setting the scene for the rest of the book.It is against this backdrop that ‘Fortress London’ is a welcome contribution to the debate about geographical inequalities. But he repeatedly stresses that it is not equal with the oppression that comes along with identities such as race, gender, sexuality and so on. The upper floor contained a grand hall in the west and residential chamber in the east – both originally open to the roof and surrounded by a gallery built into the wall – and St John's Chapel in the south-east. The fact that my first response was surprise, almost the the point of being shocked, that a young journalist who has just published his first book could have gone to the same state sixth form college in Huddersfield as me, rather than having been brought up in London or the South East (and probably also having gone to a private school), captures much of the argument, and the power, of Bright's book.