CGP Grey explains that the City of London is a tiny, separate entity with its own governance, history and privileges, distinct from the city called London. He covers its financial role and how it is run.
Why Hacker News points people here: HN's go-to short explainer for the City of London versus London, cited in many finance and UK threads.
“CGP Grey has a delightful video explaining this”HN comment, 2024
“See CGP Grey's excellent video[1] for more about the City of London vs the city called London”
Explains City of London versus London.
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The short answer is "no". The longer answer is "well, kinda, but not really". There have been a couple of convictions, but these were guilty pleas - people who have either been advised incorrectly by their solicitors (most probably because they were not experts in copyright law) or just really did not want to go through a trial. The copyright industry has tried to completely side-step copyright law entirely and use the offence of "conspiracy to defraud" with very dubious legal basis. It's been far from common, though. There have only been a handful of attempted prosecutions, and usually only because the copyright industry (via FACT[0]) has leant on the police. Most recently they've c̶o̶r̶r̶u̶p̶t̶e̶d̶ err, co-opted the City of London Police. This is the force that polices the square-mile City of London in the heart of London (See CGP Grey's excellent video[1] for more about the City of London vs the city called London). [0] The 'Federation Against Copyright Theft' - an absurd name for an absurd organisation - link [1] this video
Strongly recommendsHagelinMar 2017
“CGP Grey's "The (Secret) City of London" are great videos on the topic”
Great videos distinguishing the City of London from London.
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CGP Grey's "The (Secret) City of London" are great videos on the topic of the City of London (vs. London) Part 1: this video Part 2: link
Strongly recommendsdwheelerJun 2024
“CGP Grey has a delightful video explaining this”
Delightful explanation of the City inside London.
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CGP Grey has a delightful video explaining this: "The Secret City inside of London Revealed" (2012) this video Highly recommended.
RecommendshencqMar 2013
“This video does an effective job in explaining how things work”
Explains how the City of London differs from greater London.
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As an aside, the article points out how the City of London is a separate entity from greater London, but doesn't go into a lot of detail about it. This video does an effective job in explaining how things work: this video
RecommendsWintamuteNov 2015
“Informative/fun video on the subject”
Informative, fun video on City of London.
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I find your comment somewhat alarmist, and lacking historical context. The City of London (from which the Temple end of the Garden Bridge starts) is many many hundreds of years older than the UK itself, and has always been privately owned and governed by shadowy, corporate and arcane processes. Traditionally even the Queen is not allowed to enter the City of London without the say-so of the Lord Mayor. This "private place operating as a public space" has been operating for centuries and stewarded the emergence of London as a leading global financial centre and until recently capital of the largest Empire the world has ever seen. I admit it's reasonable to debate the pros and cons of private ownership of public spaces in city centres, but my point is that in this case The City of London is both historically unique and important, and by many measures been a huge success for the host nation. Informative/fun video on the subject: this video
RecommendsyoshamanoDec 2015
“CGP Grey does a really good job giving an overview of the history of The City of London.”
Overview of the history of the City of London.
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CGP Grey does a really good job giving an overview of the history of The City of London. this video Along with another video about the governing structure of The City of London. link
RecommendsMalicMay 2016
“CGP Grey did a nice two-parter video describing its history, its privileges and how to become mayor”
Part 1 covers history and privileges of the City.
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If anyone cares to know more about the City of London, CGP Grey did a nice two-parter video describing its history, its privileges and how to become mayor if you care to. The (Secret) City of London, Part 1: History this video The (Secret) City of London, Part 2: Government link
RecommendshencqSep 2017
“This one I found very interesting [1].”
Found very interesting by the commenter.
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There are a lot. I thought this one was really funny [0]. This one I found very interesting [1]. Somewhat different, is the Hello Internet [2] podcast, which is by Grey and Brady Haran who you might know from the Numberphile youtube channel [3]. It's basically the 2 of them chatting about random stuff, but I find it very entertaining. [0] link [1] this video [2] link [3] link
RecommendsdjsumdogFeb 2019
“GCP Grey does a great video on this”
A great video on the topic.
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GCP Grey does a great video on this: this video Jay Foreman does another great video on the very weird situation with the House of Lords: link
RecommendsmstadeFeb 2019
“For anyone looking for a fun little intro to the weirdness of the city and it’s history, I recommend CGP Grey’s channel”
Fun intro to the weirdness of the City of London.
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I don’t know whether this is true because I never looked into it really, but a colleague of mine in the ndustry told me I could join the banker’s guild. His words were that because I lived in the city[1] at the time, and also worked for a bank in the city, I’d be eligible for membership if the bank would nominate or sponsor me as a representative. I’m hazy on the details, it was years ago, and I don’t really know whether it’s true since as mentioned I never checked it out. I kind of regret not doing so now though, since moving out of the city I’ve learned much more of it’s (weird and interesting) history and it would’ve been fun to at least try to see some of this from the inside. It probably wouldn’t have worked anyway, but would’ve been fun to try. For anyone looking for a fun little intro to the weirdness of the city and it’s history, I recommend CGP Grey’s channel and particularly his videos on the City of London[2][3]. [1]: for the benefit of people who might not be aware – “the city” is a colloquialism for the City of London, which is a small somewhat autonomous part of London, situated east of what most people (who don’t know this) probably think of when you say the city of London. [2]: this video [3]: link
RecommendsrjmunroAug 2019
“The best explanation I've found is”
Best explanation of City of London governance.
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The "City Of London" (a small part of central London) has something like this. They have a resident population of <10,000 people, but somewhere between 500,000 and 1 million people commute there for work. Companies get to nominate some of their workforce as voters for the council (called "The Corporation Of London"). For historical reasons ("The City" is much older than the UK itself), things are much more complicated than simply "People who work there get to vote", so I'm not sure it's a very comparable situation. The best explanation I've found is this video
RecommendshpoeJun 2020
“For those interested in learning more about the City of London there is a youtuber, CGP Grey”
Short videos on what the City is and how it operates.
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For those interested in learning more about the City of London there is a youtuber, CGP Grey, who has to great 10 min vids on what it is why it exists and how it operates. Link here: this video
RecommendsbloqsJun 2024
“Best explanation”
Explains the ancient financial district and its police.
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This is the police force for the ancient financial district in London called the City of London. Best explanation: this video
Cites iterichoceanSep 2012
Example of a special-status city.
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The City of London is also another example: this video Note: "City of London" is not the same as "London", where the Olympics were held.
Cites itiuguyFeb 2013
Cited for City of London being a separate legal entity.
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The City of London cannot pull the eject handle and relocate. The City of London is a separate legal entity[1] with it's own laws and rules, and it's those rules that meant that the trading that took down Lehman Brothers was conducted in the City of London, because it couldn't have really legally taken place elsewhere. [1] - this video
Cites itflurdyApr 2015
Clarifies City of London versus London in passing.
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Agree, though I like the Silicon Roundabout name more. The Tech City name to me seems like a government idea, sort of Information Superhighway.... With finding money it is good that Shoreditch is right next to the City (of London, not London the City this video ), and there is a good amount of Angels and VCs in Shoreditch itself.
Cites itdigi_owlMay 2017
Supports claim that the City predates the English crown.
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England is old, very old. For example the City of London existed before the crown of England, never mind the union we know as UK... this video
Cites itakerroApr 2018
Supports point that City of London is separate from London.
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I never said it's London PD, it's City of London, these are two different things, have different mayors and budget etc. this videolinklink
Cites itDyslexicAtheistMar 2021
Commenter paraphrases the video's content to show the City is weird.
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> City of London is no weirder than NYC ... really, not weird? compared to what? the Vatican? It's arguably the financial (offshore) capital of the world and home to over eleven thousand people. The City of London lives inside of the city named London but the two Londons have separate city halls and elect separate mayors, who collect separate taxes to fund separate police who enforce separate laws. The Mayor of the City of London is called 'The Right Honourable Lord Mayor of London' to match his fancy outfit. He gets to ride in a golden carriage and work in a Guildhall while the mayor of London has to wear a suit, ride a bike and work in an office building. The City of London also has its own flag and its own crest and gets to act more like one of the countries in the UK than just an oddly located city. The corporation that runs the city of London is older than the United Kingdom by several hundred years. It was created by Romans in 43 CE as "Londonimium" with their temples, public baths, roads, bridges and a wall to defend their work. It's this wall which is why the current City of London exists - for though the Romans came and the Romans went and kingdoms rose and kingdoms fell, the wall endured protecting the city within. After the Romans William the Conqueror came to Great Britain to begin modern British history he found the City of London, with its sturdy walls more challenging to defeat than farmers on open fields. So he agreed to recognize the rights and privileges Cit
Cites itmcraeJun 2021
Cited for the specific meaning of City of London.
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Interestingly the "City of London" is a specific thing that has surprising meaning [0], but used here I think it is a metonym for the financial / banking sector of the British economy. [0] link & this video
