Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The City of London’s oldest document is currently on public display

ianvisits.co.uk

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 60 posts

Re: The City of London’s oldest document is currently on public display

#41

Post by klelatti »

mrtksn wrote: post #25
Lio wrote: post #4

For those that don’t know, the City of London is the ancient Roman core of Metropolitan London. It has its own separate police force, distinct from the Metropolitan Police that looks after the rest of London. The City is also governed differently to the rest of England. I’m guessing this document is probably part of the reason why. It’s the only place in the UK that’s not run on the basis of 1 person 1 vote. Instead…

I used to work in The City, for a time I considered to rent from there at a walking distance from work. It's truly unique place and I love it but one day I stayed at work till late and noticed that the place turned into a ghost town once the salarymen went home. Then went a few times cycling there in the weekend and I was astonished how empty it was. I actually enjoy solitude but the area is very business oriented an…

In general you're absolutely right but there are some parts of the City where there is some activity over the weekend. For example, the area around St Paul's and Cheapside usually have quite a few shops open and it's quite a pleasant place for a walk on a Sunday (and e.g. the Daunt's bookshop on Cheapside is very good and open both Sat and Sun).

It's interesting that it's quite the opposite just over the river (200m walk say) where places like Tate Modern and around London Bridge are usually very busy indeed over the weekend.

Re: The City of London’s oldest document is currently on public display

#42

Post by jsmith99 »

Lio wrote: post #24
jsmith99 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not that different. There are 43 police forces in the country, with different specialities, and the City of London force leads (not very well) on financial crime. Businesses do have a vote in local elections, but that was standard across the UK until the Representation of the People Act 1969. The Corporation of London is basically just a local council like any other, albeit with a load of money and a load of mea…

Well on the one hand you're saying it's not that strange, on the other there's the election process for who can become Lord Mayor of the City of London. ;) In most parts of the country the "Worshipful Society of Apothecaries" plays very little part in local governance... Here's another video from CGP Grey that explains it rather well:- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1ROpIKZe-c ...and when did all this start? No bod…

> Lord Mayor

Yes, that's what I said 'a load of meaningless ceremonies'. The Lord Mayor has absolutely no role anymore besides the decorative.

Re: The City of London’s oldest document is currently on public display

#43

Post by twic »

angled wrote: post #15
Lio wrote: post #4

For those that don’t know, the City of London is the ancient Roman core of Metropolitan London. It has its own separate police force, distinct from the Metropolitan Police that looks after the rest of London. The City is also governed differently to the rest of England. I’m guessing this document is probably part of the reason why. It’s the only place in the UK that’s not run on the basis of 1 person 1 vote. Instead…

Hong Kong’s electoral system is based on this, too.

Hong Kong's is much stranger than the City of London's, from what i know.

The City does actually have one person one vote, with those votes electing local representatives in the much the same way as any other local authority. The quirk is in who the people are. Every resident has a vote. But some people who work in the City but don't live there also get a vote. Businesses are entitled to nominate some number of their employees as voters, according to their size.

This makes a lot of sense to me, given that the City has thousands of residents but hundreds of thousands of workers. Why should the place be run solely for the benefit of the residents?

If anything, this approach should be extended to other areas where there is a non-resident population much larger than the resident population. Give tourists a vote on how the City of Westminster is run!

Whereas in Hong Kong, you have this system of "functional constituencies", where there are seats in the legislative council elected by workers in specific industries:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Functional_constituency_(Hong_...

Re: The City of London’s oldest document is currently on public display

#44

Post by gambiting »

blibble wrote: post #17
handelaar wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Residents do not have a vote in local elections, is the part you're missing.

they do (if they are British or commonwealth citizens/etc)

Also not true - if you are lawful resident in the UK you can vote in local elections, just not in the parlimentary elections(source: Polish immigrant who lived here for over a decade without a British citizenship, I have always voted in local elections).

Re: The City of London’s oldest document is currently on public display

#45

Post by draazon »

klelatti wrote: post #6
Lio wrote: post #4

For those that don’t know, the City of London is the ancient Roman core of Metropolitan London. It has its own separate police force, distinct from the Metropolitan Police that looks after the rest of London. The City is also governed differently to the rest of England. I’m guessing this document is probably part of the reason why. It’s the only place in the UK that’s not run on the basis of 1 person 1 vote. Instead…

To add a little colour to this. The resident population of the city is less than 10k - I’d guess around 3-4k in one development the Barbican Centre - but 500k work there. 10k is about one tenth of the population per Member of Parliament in the U.K. The City of London Police number just over 800. So the demographics for a ‘city’ are very odd too.

I went on an architectural tour of the Barbican Centre a few years ago - it was great, highly recommended (particularly if you're a fan of Brutalism, an under-appreciated style). Anyway, the (excellent) tour guide explained the reason that the development has the 3-4k population mentioned above. Apparently the destruction of housing stock caused by WWII bombing of the City was such that the population no longer justified the appointment of an MP. The Corporation of London weren't willing to lose their representation, and so immediately decided to rebuild precisely enough accommodation to be entitled to an MP - hence the entire Barbican development.

I've no idea whether that's true, but it fits in with the general opaque feudality that is the City.

Also: if faced with a zombie apocalypse, the Barbican would be a very good place to hold out. Good sight lines, few street-level entrances, a surprisingly large network of tunnels and the largest greenhouse outside of Kew... perfect!

Re: The City of London’s oldest document is currently on public display

#46

Post by BerislavLopac »

Lio wrote: post #4

For those that don’t know, the City of London is the ancient Roman core of Metropolitan London. It has its own separate police force, distinct from the Metropolitan Police that looks after the rest of London. The City is also governed differently to the rest of England. I’m guessing this document is probably part of the reason why. It’s the only place in the UK that’s not run on the basis of 1 person 1 vote. Instead…

Yeah, I love those little quirky details about London... A few trivia I find funny:

Did you know that - technically - "London" does not exist? There is Greater London, which is not a city - it's either a county (when it includes the City of London) or a ceremonial county (when it doesn't). There is also the City of London, which is (as detailed in other comments) a completely separate entity and includes just a tiny bit of what is generally referred to as "London".

Another one: Quickly, what is the capital city of England? It doesn't have it, as England doesn't have its own parliament nor government, being ruled directly by those of the United Kingdom.

OK then - what is the capital city of the United Kingdom, especially if London does not exist? Well, it's the city where the Parliament and most of the government offices are located, and that is City of Westminster. While technically part of the Greater London county, it is a city in its own right.

Re: The City of London’s oldest document is currently on public display

#47

Post by blibble »

gambiting wrote: post #44
blibble wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

they do (if they are British or commonwealth citizens/etc)

Also not true - if you are lawful resident in the UK you can vote in local elections, just not in the parlimentary elections(source: Polish immigrant who lived here for over a decade without a British citizenship, I have always voted in local elections).

you're under 'etc.'

enumerating all the cases would take me a year as the UK franchise rules are very complicated...

e.g. Polish citizens can but French can't due to lack of reciprocity

(and I think only UK/commonwealth can vote for alderman in the City)

Re: The City of London’s oldest document is currently on public display

#48

Post by Theodores »

Symbiote wrote: post #35
Theodores wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For those that don't know, "William the Conqueror" is also known as "William the Bastard". This was not the name used by my school teachers and I just wonder how different history lessons would have been had this name been used. The Normans were Vikings that 'co-opted' the women in Normandy to become 'Normans'. Not the first empire to expand with rape and pillage, but it is interesting how British history accommodate…

Page 6 of one of the official exam specifications to be taken at age 16 (GCSEs) specifically mentions William the Bastard. https://www.ocr.org.uk/Images/335133-the-norman-conquest-106...

I must be getting very old!

Thanks for this. Back in my day the 'b-' word was considered unfit for school books.

Re: The City of London’s oldest document is currently on public display

#49

Post by Symbiote »

Theodores wrote: post #48
Symbiote wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Page 6 of one of the official exam specifications to be taken at age 16 (GCSEs) specifically mentions William the Bastard. https://www.ocr.org.uk/Images/335133-the-norman-conquest-106...

I must be getting very old! Thanks for this. Back in my day the 'b-' word was considered unfit for school books.

I remembered it from about 1999. I don't know if it was a requirement back then, or just something the history teacher chose to include.

Re: The City of London’s oldest document is currently on public display

#50

Post by easytiger »

Theodores wrote: post #16
Lio wrote: post #4

For those that don’t know, the City of London is the ancient Roman core of Metropolitan London. It has its own separate police force, distinct from the Metropolitan Police that looks after the rest of London. The City is also governed differently to the rest of England. I’m guessing this document is probably part of the reason why. It’s the only place in the UK that’s not run on the basis of 1 person 1 vote. Instead…

For those that don't know, "William the Conqueror" is also known as "William the Bastard". This was not the name used by my school teachers and I just wonder how different history lessons would have been had this name been used. The Normans were Vikings that 'co-opted' the women in Normandy to become 'Normans'. Not the first empire to expand with rape and pillage, but it is interesting how British history accommodate…

> The City of London is a tax haven.

Flat out not true.

This is where you quote an article from Nicholas Shaxson wherein he wrote a book on the subject in which he totally failed to prove his assertion. A company in the city of london is subject to all the same laws as anywhere else in the UK.

Stop lying

Post reply on HN