The ExCeL centre – a symbol of where we are

I’m in a high-speed inflatable on the Thames, south of the barrier.

What a godforsaken spot! The ExCeL centre where the G20 leaders will meet on Thursday is flanked by a large scrapyard and rather forlorn-looking Victorian dock.

By the Victoria Embankment

Heaven knows what they’ll make of the place. It’s a great barn. An endless chain of modern warehouse lumps. It has no character, nothing to divert their attention.

It’s so boring that even a G20 ministerial negotiation about the global economic crisis will be fascinating.

What a beautiful river the Thames is once you leave the ExCeL centre behind you! Even Canary Wharf is a spectacular mile.

But if world leaders needed any better signal of the mess we are in, they need look no further than the building excess draped around the City.

Where the chartered Thames does flow