I see John Cleese has unleashed a shítstorm by the simple expedient of stating a fact

[Ash]

Being home to foreign settlers and them and their children being in the overwhelming majority are two very different things.

And this country's 'melting pot' history is largely balls, btw. Up until the mid-20th century, the ethnic make-up of this country was massively homogeneous.

Plenty of furrins, like some of my ancestors, came to London in the 19th Century because of the trade links. Then the Huge Knots (probably another ancestor there) 150+ years before that seeking life & liberty free from savage persecution.

That said, 36% foreign born is quite high. Probably more than that by now, in fact, judging by how surprised I sometimes am to hear English being spoken. NTTAWWT!

[Burney]

Plenty of furrins, like some of my ancestors, came to London in the 19th Century because of the trade links. Then the Huge Knots (probably another ancestor there) 150+ years before that seeking life & liberty free from savage persecution.

That said, 36% foreign born is quite high. Probably more than that by now, in fact, judging by how surprised I sometimes am to hear English being spoken. NTTAWWT!

Yes, but as I pointed out to p, those waves of immigration were tiny in comparison to the immigration that has taken place in the last 25 years.

And whether there is anything wrong with it is not the question. There is certainly something remarkable about it and it hardly seems unreasonable for someone to conclude that when English is customarily not being heard in a city, that that city may not be English anymore.