Londoners - how has diversity enriched your life?

You can get any type of food you like. It is one of the few places I can get hold of decent biltong.

It has made it one of the greatest cities in the world. Take away the diversity and it will drop FAR down the list. See for yourself the greatest cities have the greatest diversity.

If we fail to attract the best talent we fall behind. Basic economics 101.

It doesn't actually enrich anyone's lives. There's no examples anyone saying it does can give that hold up to daylight, especially not when you're resorting (as redferry did) to food on three occasions, then to the impending threat of death, then food again, and the UKIP/Tories.

I live (for the next few days) in a very multicultural/ethnic area in London. It's a nuisance, not because there are lots of people of different ethnicities, but because people go about in their own tribes, there's rampant racism from all communities, people speak a million different languages and when I try to speak to someone their English (if its fluent enough to be coherent) is so thickly accented that it is difficult to understand. How anyone can support that is beyond me. It is an impediment to a successful society.

What complete rubbish. London was always great when it was completely white. Now, it is not so nice (not saying race is directly responsible)

London has only been put on the map since it has been mixed. UK's over anyway. London's dropped to like 5th and 13th for earnings.

Peasants.

I saw this years Notting Hill carnival had "Knife Bins". Knife Bins are good therefore +1 for cultural enrichment

I saw this years Notting Hill carnival had "Knife Bins". Knife Bins are good therefore +1 for cultural enrichment

Yeah, the majority of the 10 people fatally stabbed in London this year have been black. And the perpetrators don't care who gets caught in the crossfire - man, woman or child. They have no incentive to avoid harming innocent people.

I'd argue that Italians have integrated better because of the shared European background.

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Everyone seems to be pointing to cuisine - while that's true to an extent, I don't really think it's an effect of multiculturalism in general. I mean, nobody really eats Nigerian takeaways or buys food from a Polish shop/sklep etc except for people of said race. The only cuisine we really eat are Indian, Chinese, Turkish (kebab) and some others, but they've become so entrenched in our culture that I don't realy view them as 'multicultural' anyway if you know what I mean - like chicken tikka is our national dish, Chinese food is very westernised, kebabs are served in chip shops and so on. You can get these three cuisines in predominantly non-multicultural (mostly rural) areas.

I lived in London for 21 years before my parents moved abroad, but I'm now based in Leeds. And I have to say that despite both cities being multicultural and diverse to varying degrees, London is a city that is enriched by so many different communities living together. By that I mean that different ethnic groups are so well-integrated with each other that they are able to serve their own communities with the space and facilities that London has to offer. The Bengali community in Tower Hamlets is spread around Brick Lane, Indians/Pakistanis have developed the businesses in Green Street, Southall, Harrow etc, Turkish people in Haringey and Islington etc. In particular, South Asian communities in London ensure that there are religious/cultural events happening nearly every day of the week - festivals like Diwali, Vaisakhi, Eid, Holi etc. The communities are large enough in London for one to expect that we love our culture and are proud of hosting these kinds of events.

On the other hand, the South Asian communities in Leeds are proportionally large enough to match those of London, Birmingham, Manchester or Bradford, but nothing ever happens here to help me feel proud of my culture. Despite a huge Indian population (both students and locals), the Indian cultural events in Leeds only happen up to 3 times a year. Pakistani cultural shows only happen once a year and, if Eid falls during the academic year then there might be a small party but nowhere on the same scale as what happens in London. There's a sizeable Sikh Punjabi community in Leeds too, but not a single event to cater for those with a taste in Punjabi music (the last Bhangra party in Leeds was a one-off back in 2012). The lack of community integration and cultural events reflects in people's attitudes here because everything is about alcohol and I can't go anywhere without my "friends" convincing me to try alcohol despite the fact that they know I'm Muslim and I refuse to go near the stuff. Coming from a Pakistani Punjabi background and living in a city where non-alcohol events absolutely do not exist, is very alienating for me. That just doesn't happen in London because people are open-minded and culturally aware enough to know that I'm interested in different things to them. As a result I miss London every day, not just because it's my home but because my friends from other ethnic backgrounds actually respect me enough to include me in their community events happening throughout the year. The fact is, the lack of integration in Leeds is because people prioritise alcohol before everything else and refuse to give it up. I feel so helpless as a Muslim man living in Leeds because the communities are so well-hidden here, and therefore the city has nothing to offer me if there's actually nothing to get involved in.

Worst part is that I can buy South Asian food and cooking ingredients for much cheaper in London than I can in Leeds.

It doesn't actually enrich anyone's lives. There's no examples anyone saying it does can give that hold up to daylight, especially not when you're resorting (as redferry did) to food on three occasions, then to the impending threat of death, then food again, and the UKIP/Tories.

I live (for the next few days) in a very multicultural/ethnic area in London. It's a nuisance, not because there are lots of people of different ethnicities, but because people go about in their own tribes, there's rampant racism from all communities, people speak a million different languages and when I try to speak to someone their English (if its fluent enough to be coherent) is so thickly accented that it is difficult to understand. How anyone can support that is beyond me. It is an impediment to a successful society.