Residents of a South London estate famous for its patriotic display of hundreds of England flags during major football tournaments have said that the country is in a ‘shambles’. Ahead of the General Election on July 4, MyLondon visited the famous Kirby estate in Bermondsey to speak to those living there about their election priorities.
They told us they fear being mugged on the streets and paying energy bills is a struggle. Chris Dowse, 45, who works as a DJ, has lived on the estate for more than a decade. Sitting outside his home, he said: “It’s all a shambles across the board, to be honest. I think they’re all as bad as each other.
“And every single time there’s an election or anything, they come out with their promises – nothing’s ever kept. They say they’re going to do this, they’re going to do that. Nothing ever gets done.
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“It seems to be forgotten quickly as soon as they get into power.” Mr Dowse added: “I think, no matter who’s in charge, it’s getting worse.”
Asks whether the estate’s clear pride in England affects how people vote, he said: “No. I think because there’s so many diverse walks of life in here, people from different countries, again, we’ve never been political on here. It’s not about politics.”
‘We’ve had politicians ask to come down and watch the football with us’
Chris added: “We’ve had politicians ask to come down and watch the football with us and we’ve declined, because it’s not what we want to be known for.” The resident then described how the area’s former MP, Simon Hughes, had once given the estate a ‘giant, giant’ flag.
“He didn’t ask us,” Mr Dowse recalled, “but it wasn’t a problem because he was here. We wasn’t going to turn him away.” Overall, people on the Kirby Estate, he added, ‘keep their opinions to themselves’, but he understands that there are people who will support Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, Labour and the Conservatives.
“If you pick the best out of all of them,” he proposed, “you could kind of make something that’s like a tiny bit sensible.”
‘Kids are running around mugging people’
Lorrie Turner, 51, who is currently unemployed after working in a coffee bar, has lived on the estate for 31 years. She told MyLondon: “Who knows what’s happening with this country? Someone says this, someone says that.”
Asked what issues face people locally, Ms Turner said that knife crime and ‘muggings’ are prominent in the area. She added: “I don’t know how kids are running around masked and dressed in black, mugging people. Surely people should know what’s in their bedroom.
“When my kids were little, I used to put the kids’ pants away, I knew what was in their draws. You should know what’s in their drawers if you’re a good parent. When you’ve got children, you worry about them, don’t you? I’ve seen people getting mugged. Women, men walking along with their phone and boom.”
Ms Turner also said that driving to places takes longer after Transport for London (TfL) introduced cycle lanes on nearby Jamaica Road. “It took me an hour from Surrey Quays to get to Greenwich on Sunday,” she said. “That cycle lane – they should have made it go around the river or something.”
The long term resident added that the condition of roads needs improving and claimed that it is ‘quicker just to walk anywhere’ locally nowadays.
‘We’ve got to pull together and try and sort things out’
Alan Butman, 54, said after a chuckle: “What can we say about it? I’m in two minds who to vote for and all that. But I’m going to go with the one we normally do.”
He added: “I just hope the right party comes out.” On the area, Mr Butman added: “The area’s fantastic; Bermondsey’s brilliant. As I said, I’ve lived in here 16 years.
“Things do need improving; every place needs improving. But hopefully they will come, give us a bit of money and try and improve the area.”
On what needs improving, he said: “A lot of things like kissing gates and that for the kids because a lot of motorbikes shoot through the archways and things like that. We’ve actually had a word with the council and all that, so we’re trying to get on with them.
“But they’ve not come through with the gates. A lot of people think we could have done with intercom around here.
“You know, it’s just general tidying up, really. It’s lovely. You get new blocks go up and all that so, just generally tidying up.” On local crime, Mr Butman added that he had heard of muggings too.
“Yes it is terrible,” he said. “It’s very terrible for the people involved. But, you know, we’ve got to pull together and try and sort things out.” On the country as a whole, the construction worker said something that would be music to the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak’s, ears: “It’s in a little bit of a thingy but at the moment it has been pulling through.
“I’ve got to admit it has come through a little bit, with a lot of things. A lot of prices have dropped a bit and things like that, which is a good thing for people. Obviously everyone needs a bit of help with prices and all that.
“But yeah, we’ll get there, mate. We’re British. We’ve got to live here, we’ve got to fight for it.” He added that the NHS ‘needs all the help in the world’.
‘The cost of living is a big problem’
Winston Ricketts, 83, was sitting outside his home enjoying the sun. He used to live in Nottingham after coming to the UK from Jamaica in 1962.
He said: “I always vote Labour. But since Tony Blair became Prime Minister, he put me off because he came with a Conservative policy.” However, Mr Ricketts told MyLondon that he thinks Sir Keir Starmer is going to ‘stick with Labour’.
“I don’t think he’s going to switch,” the retired foundry worker added. He also said: “The cost of living is a big problem.” Asked if he was having to sacrifice anything, Mr Ricketts said: “Yeah, yeah. gas and electric. It costs a lot of money.”
He described how he still uses it, as he would ‘freeze to death’ and does not have a choice, but he thinks about the cost every time.
Tugce Yildiril, 32, moved to the UK from Turkey in 2021. The landscape architect said that she is not planning to vote because she has only been in the UK for three years and needs to do some research, but this may change.
“Sometimes, all times [there’re] changes,” Ms Yildiril added, “life is changes.” Overall, she added that life is good and she does not find herself struggling financially.
MyLondon has approached the Mayor of London’s office, TfL, the Labour Party and Southwark Council for comment.
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