The mean streets

The Home Secretary's in trouble again for being too honest and forthright in her comments. This time it's her statement that she wouldn't feel safe walking round London after dark. Well, let's be honest - if you're a woman would you fancy it, and if you're a man would you want your wife, girl-friend, sister or whoever out on their own in a big city after dark? Probably not, I would suggest. So she was just telling it as it is. And things I think have definitely changed during my lifetime. When I worked, I visited London regularly as part of my job, and, being a bloke, used to like to wander round Soho in the evenings. As a young man (say in the 60s and 70s), I never felt under any physical threat (and back then I was pretty lightweight and wouldn't have stood much chance in a fight) - I always certainly felt that I was in far more danger of being conned than thumped. As time went by, this changed, and I have to say that on my last few visits to the capital, which would have been 15 or so years ago, I remember feeling somewhat uneasy even walking down Oxford Street in broad daylight and certainly would no longer have considered visiting Soho after dark. You can argue that as Home Secretary she should be doing something about it, but I don't think you can criticise her for telling the truth.