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And here are the Labour councillors who broke their word over the 15% tax hike and abandoned the people of Croydon

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STUART KING. Leader of the opposition

Councillor King took over as Labour group leader in May 2022.
Had spent previous eight years mostly holding senior positions, including cabinet posts, in the Labour council administration of Tony Newman, Alison Butler and Paul Scott which bankrupted the borough.
In 2020, when there was a vote of no confidence held over Newman’s leadership, King voted to back the leadership of Newman and his clique.
Within months, Newman had resigned as leader and the council issued its first S114 notice.
Last night, before the first budget vote, Cllr King told the Town Hall chamber, “If the budget isn’t changed, Labour’s opposition to it won’t change.”
Less than two hours later, following orders from Labour Party chiefs, King led his group back into the Town Hall Chamber and changed their opposition to the Tory budget, abstaining to allow it to pass.




Some of these Labour councillors were visibly furious when it came to the third, and what proved to be final, vote on the Tory Mayor’s budget. Some were close to tears.

But all of them followed their party whip, abstained, and so allowed the 15per cent Council Tax hike and another £36million-worth of cuts to pass. Much as many of them had done in the days of Tony Newman, Alison Butler and Paul Scott, when they all obeyed the party whip, let the dodgy deals get passed and watched timidly as the borough crashed into bankruptcy.

Last night’s vote added insult to the grievous injury that Croydon Labour had done to the borough.

The Labour group acquiesced to the Conservative Mayor’s budget, despite there not having been any referendum on the Council Tax increase.

This despite the government failing to publish any of its improvement panel reports since December 2021.

And this despite the Mayor’s budget not being “balanced”, including as it does a £38million hole in loan repayments and interest, in the hope that the government will meet another of Perry’s requests, to write off half-a-billion-pounds-worth of debt.

Remember these names when you open your Council Tax bill in the next couple of weeks.

And remember these names and their political party the next time you have the opportunity to fill in an election ballot.

Read more: ‘Can’t Pay, Won’t Pay’ to start if 15% tax hike goes through
Read more: Here’s the Mayor and 33 Croydon Tory councillors who THREE times voted in favour of hitting you with a 15% Council Tax hike
Read more: Only three councillors were as good as their word and stood up for the people against Tory Mayor Perry’s 15% Council Tax hike
Read more: Perry says there’s no alternative to his budget. But there’s lots

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