68. Fallen empires

I’ve escaped London for a pre-Christmas minibreak, to visit the beautiful Austrian capital of Vienna. For some reason, visiting a liberal city that was once the centre of the world, but is now just the capital of a small and angry country, reminded me of an interview I did months ago about London getting the ‘ump about Brexit.

So, here it is. James O’Malley is a journalist and occasional CityMetric contributor, who last appeared on Skylines episode 48. In a fit of rage in June 2016, he founded a petition calling for London to become an independent state. It was mostly a joke - but, as it turns out, a terrifyingly high number of people rather liked the idea, and he accidentally started a secessionist movement that he’s not entirely sure he agrees with.

James tells me about his abortive political career, Brexit, city states - and whether he sold out.

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