God save the punks

The 40-year journey from anarchy to tourist attraction is almost complete. The place of punk rock’s birth in 1976, the King’s Road in London, is now filled with designer shoe shops; its principal ambassador, John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten), fronts advertisements for Country Life butter. Nonetheless its “attitude and spirit” survive untouched, insists the mayor of London’s office, which is helping to co-ordinate a year-long punk festival in conjunction with such anti-establishment institutions as the British Library and the Museum of London. God save the queen.