A Mile End Kaleidoscope

The thing that impresses me most about London is it's simple variety, the simple way in which you can stand outside Whitechapel underground station and see scenes which would in no way be out of place in Dhaka, but if you walk two hundred yards in any direction you can find yourself in totally different circumstances. The sight of islamists hand out flyers and chatting in conspiratorial terms about how "Bush think's he's the second coming", the barbershops with non-stop muslim sermons playing on 'Peace TV', the endless halal shops and 'cultural centres' all might have a visitor to this area thinking that Britain's capital really was being turned into 'Londonistan'. A walk of about five minutes changes this impression.