London ‘third most successful financial centre in wealth management’

[Mich the Tester]

But didn't the last lot of daft twats (or the previous lot of Tories - same difference) sign up for majority voting?

(*) BTW the word "twat" there means a a nun's headdress

Not in this case; it's to do with a tax that would cover the whole of the EU, it needs unanimity. It won't get unanimity. (Unless of course the UKIP voters open up the election for Militwat to win)

[Old Hack]

Oh no, please, not as boring as Singapore.

Lived there in the 70's and it was ace, a proper Asian city. I went back in the 90's, then the 00's and it was bland, it was almost grey in it's attitude. Some fun places, yes, of course, but it had lost all its charm, imo.

[stek]

Lived there in the 70's and it was ace, a proper Asian city. I went back in the 90's, then the 00's and it was bland, it was almost grey in it's attitude. Some fun places, yes, of course, but it had lost all its charm, imo.

My recently deceased Uncle was there in the 40's, he didn't rate it much....

[Spacecadet]

Lived there in the 70's and it was ace, a proper Asian city. I went back in the 90's, then the 00's and it was bland, it was almost grey in it's attitude. Some fun places, yes, of course, but it had lost all its charm, imo.

It's there if you know where to look for it. There are still plenty of the old neighbourhoods around with the shabby but fantastic food stalls, some which have been selling exactly the same dish for 30-40 years.

Arab Quarter, Geylang ,Little India and China Town all retain a lot of character and going out of the center, areas like Kovan, Pasir Ris and Tampines all have their little places where the locals go for authentic food.

There is still a 24 hour culture there too, can't beat driving to the other end of the city at 3am to some little food stall in the middle of what looks like nowhere are finding the place buzzing with people enjoying their food in the cool of the night.

[Mich the Tester]

It's there if you know where to look for it. There are still plenty of the old neighbourhoods around with the shabby but fantastic food stalls, some which have been selling exactly the same dish for 30-40 years.

Arab Quarter, Geylang ,Little India and China Town all retain a lot of character and going out of the center, areas like Kovan, Pasir Ris and Tampines all have their little places where the locals go for authentic food.

There is still a 24 hour culture there too, can't beat driving to the other end of the city at 3am to some little food stall in the middle of what looks like nowhere are finding the place buzzing with people enjoying their food in the cool of the night.

There´s a good Italian restaurant in Chinatown which has an incredible wine cabinet with almost every vintage of Barolo and Brunello dating back to the 30s, but judging by the Insalate Caprese there was a serious tomato crisis in Asia last year. Lots of cheese, lots of basil and a token red bit on the side of the plate.

Still, silly me, I can´t be arsed with Asian food, or any other food than Italian for that matter; I grew up with Italian food and although I like some Arabic food, I really don't need Asian food.

[Dominic Connor]

Sharia Law

Some of the more hysterical arts grads in the Daily Mail have been whining about Sharia law seeping into British law, when of course it has been here for a century or more.

And that's why London is becoming the top centre for Islamic finance; a lot of which is wealth management.

UK law has long had the idea of plugging in modules, if a club buys a footballer it will be "subject to the prevailing regs of the FA, EUFA etc", or the EULA of Microsoft or pretty much anything written down.

Unlike countries with defective legal systems (Saudi, Iran, Sweden etc) UK law does what it says on the tin, a British judge won't try to second guess God, Allah or Steve Balmer, if the contract says you have to do X, then you do X or pay up.

Enforcability of contracts is critical if you're dealing with seroius money and in the case of Islamic finance the last thing you want is someone from the wrong kind of Islam punting his own ideas into the mess.

Obviously you can't over ride English or Scottish law, but the rules are known and that is worth real money to the UK.

[AtW]

And that's why London is becoming the top centre for Islamic finance; a lot of which is wealth management.

You mean banks like Standard Chartered?