London the City State

From the Evening Standard:

Londoners increasingly feel more "patriotic" about their city than about their country, new research reveals.

Almost four out of five people living in the capital told a poll they felt "very proud" or "fairly proud" to be a Londoner. Only 68 per cent were proud to be English and 74 per cent proud to be British.

The poll, by YouGov for the Institute for Public Policy Research think tank, suggests many thousands of Londoners identify with a "city state" ahead of any national affiliation.

Another question found that 53 per cent were "very attached" to London, compared with 44 per cent to England, 33 per cent to the United Kingdom and eight per cent to Europe.

Peter Ackroyd, author of London: The Biography, said: "How could it be otherwise? London is a state of mind as well as a geographical area."

Forgive me for stating the bleedin' obvious, but how could it be otherwise when a third of Londoners were born outside the UK and over a third were born outside England?