Peter Moore: I survived a weekend in ‘lawless’ London – and lived to tell the tale

According to Donald Trump and Elon Musk London is a lawless hellhole. Staying there would be more risky than fighting in the Battle of the Somme.

So recently, when I spent a weekend in London I wondered whether would I have to obey Shaia Law, wear a stub vest and then get flattened by an idiot on an e-bike ignoring a red light.

Having been a student in London I know my way around provided nothing has changed since 1975. It has. My old student flat which was over a transport café is now over an upmarket wine bar. There is a new door to the flat with an intercom. It is highly unlikely it is still occupied by students.

I was given a ticket for an interactive production of “A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” in Hammersmith and tickets for Abba Voyage in Shoreditch.

The train from Newton Abbot was efficient and comfortable, although if I understood the ticket prices for trains I could probably qualify for a PhD in applied economics.

Hammersmith was buzzing with bars and restaurants. We managed to find the Riverside studios. There was just enough time for a quick drink when the waitress pointed out that this area was for dining. I successfully managed the “I’m an old man from the country and don’t understand all these city ways” and she relented getting us a drink.

When we saw the bill, we could have had a three-course meal in Devon.

In the interactive version of Hitchhikers we were in a bar when the Vogons destroyed the Earth to make way for an intergalactic hyperspace freeway. I wondered whether, with all the international Earth news the Vogons had a point.

The following day we headed over to Shoreditch. Back in the 1970s I would have expected to meet Fagin or at least the Kray twins.

Anywhere east of the Tower of London was dodgy. In the 1970s there were still a few docks which closed when container ships proved too big for the Thames. This caused the dockers to go on strike, although I was told by a police officer that their main complaint was that it is impossible to nick anything from a container.

Shoreditch is a little different today, largely thanks to the Olympics. Entering the Westfield Shopping centre was like stepping forward in time or is it that Devon is like stepping back in time?

In the evening before the show we wandered around wondering where to eat. It was, again buzzing with hundreds of bars and restaurants. We had an excellent meal in a Turkish restaurant. I did not leave hungry.

The taxi took us to Abba voyage, the virtual Abba show. The lighting was spectacular and on the stage were the original 1970s Abba, except that I knew they weren’t. Unless they have a picture in the attic like Dorian Gray no one stays that young. I could reassure myself knowing that I am younger than these attractive young musicians although I have changed a little in fifty years.

It was so realistic that the technology could easily be abused. Instead of Abba it could have been a well-known politician on stage saying outlandish things he or she never actually said.

To quote Abraham Lincoln, “Do not believe everything you see online”.

So what was my overall impression of the big smoke in 2026? The East End has been revolutionised.

Despite being well over budget and late the new Elizabeth Line is now the busiest railway line in the UK. It is also very efficient taking us straight from Shoreditch to Paddington.

London is truly multiethnic with friends of different ethnic origin laughing and joking together.

The only people who do not believe that London is dangerous are Londoners. They should know. Homicide is at its lowest rate for thirty years and violent crime is down 25% in ten years.

The parts of London I saw may not be typical, but it did not feel as though Britain was broken.

I am sure I will upset some people for daring to suggest that some aspects of our country are amazing, but then I am an optimist.