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Annunziata Rees-Mogg says Bristol ‘feels like a city that has given up’
Annunziata Rees-Mogg says that a recent visit to Bristol “really brought home the malaise we are suffering from in our country”.
The former Brexit Party MEP, who is now head of communications at Popular Conservatism, slammed Bristol, calling it “a city that had given up”.
Rees-Mogg, the sister of former cabinet minister Jacob, had taken a trip to Cabot Circus and was particularly taken by the current state of Broadmead.
In a lengthy tweet, she wrote: “Took two teenage girls shopping in Bristol today.
“As we circled the carpark two drug addicts were getting their gear ready. As we walked to the big shopping centre a man high as a kite was trying to pick his phone off the floor and finding it highly amusing that he kept failing to do so.
“The ticket machine wasn’t working, the escalator was broken, and numerous shops empty including the massive old Debenhams.
“The streets were dirty, the building too. Closing down sales and ‘to let’ signs seemed to be everywhere you looked. Beggars say (sic) by lampposts on the pavements.
“Even Poundland had a security guard.
“Driving back out we saw row after row of shops, the majority shuttered and looking abandoned.
“Even a year ago – when I last did the same shopping jaunt – things were better. Not great but nowhere near as bad as today.
“I am used to Skegness and the ever increasing number of charity shops and barbers. But in a big city it felt so much worse.
“Bristol really brought home the malaise we are suffering from in our country. It felt like a city that had given up.”
Rees-Mogg appeared not to notice that the ground floor of the former Debenhams is now Shredrenhams, a popular new indoor skatepark.
The Bristol City Centre Regeneration Project covers an area focused around Broadmead, Castle Park and the Old City, with “a transformational vision and strategy for how the Bristol city centre should evolve in the coming years”.
On its last legs, the Galleries shopping centre is due to be demolished and replaced with a mixed-use development which “offers an unprecedented opportunity to revitalise the heart of Bristol”.
Replies to Rees-Mogg’s tweet mostly agreed with her comments.
Finnidal said: “I live in Bristol, but very rarely go into Broadmead these days. I was there last week, meeting my great-niece for lunch & saw the same things. For the first time ever, I was anxious walking through the car park. Far cry from the Bristol of my youth.”
lordclifton wrote: “Broadmead/Cabot have suffered since Covid, the departure of M&S, House of Fraser, Debenhams and Cinema de Luxe, and the Council’s war on motorists ramped up since Covid. It’s lucky there isn’t a Primark at Cribbs Causeway. Hopefully things will improve when a big new M&S returns in a few weeks.”
Musician John E Vistic added: “Gloucester Road in Bristol is still good, and there are some nice new coffee places if you can find them. Bristol council is alas run by fanatical anti car folks so don’t expect to be able easily park anywhere or stay long. There is however still a good music scene.”
Main photo: Martin Booth
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