EXCLUSIVE: As Nigel Farage’s company-cum-party struggles with a constant credibility crisis, here in Croydon, one member has a policy idea which could damage their election chances. By STEVEN DOWNES
End of the line?: Reform’s Peter Morgan wants to scrap the tram network, including the vital link to New Addington
Ahead of next May’s local elections in Croydon, Peter Morgan wants to make it Reform UK policy to scrap the tram system.
That’s according to Croydon members of Reform, some of whom have described the Coulsdon motoring lobbyist’s policy proposals ahead of next year’s local elections as “bat-shit crazy”.
Reform seems somehow able to ride out any scandals and incompetence among its leadership, candidates and officials. The latest piece of Reform criminal sleaze saw their former leader in Wales being sentenced to 10 years in prison for taking bribes in return for publicly backing dictator Vladimir Putin’s Russian regime.
Closer to home, their national party HQ chose as their candidate for Croydon Mayor a dead woman from Yorkshire.
Traitor: Nathan Gill, a senior member of Reform UK, admitted to taking bribes from Putin’s Russia
But scrapping the tram network, as Morgan is advocating, might be something their party in Croydon could never recover from.
According to national opinion polls, Reform UK has genuine prospects of picking up a handful of councillor seats at Croydon Town Hall at the local elections in less than six months’ time.
That includes all four council seats in the two wards in New Addington.
That’s the same area of Croydon which, perhaps more than most, has come to rely on the tram service to transport residents to and from work each day, or simply get them to central Croydon, the Purley Way and other destinations reached by the vital public transport artery that has been serving south London for 25 years.
The London Trams are today operated under the aegis of Transport for London.
At peak times, as many as eight trams an hour run between New Addington and West Croydon. According to TfL official figures, more than 200,000 passenger journeys were undertaken to or from New Addington just in the period between September 14 and October 11 this year – accounting for around 15% of the tram network’s overall ridership.
But according to local party members who have attended his meetings and received his emails, Reform UK’s Peter Morgan wants the tram network scrapped.
In the past, Morgan has been an active member of UKIP and the Conservatives, and managed to get himself kicked out of both parties.
In Reform, Morgan has taken to signing off his emails as “REF London data analyst”.
According to one member who has been on the receiving end of his emails, “Morgan collects contact details from members at each available opportunity and then harasses them, on an almost daily basis, with meaningless emails about his own interpretation of publicly available data.”
Nasty: Now a member of Reform UK, Peter Morgan is notorious in Croydon political circles
It is understood that Morgan has been a good deal less frank with Reform members over the circumstances which led to the Cordrey Gardens resident’s arrest in 2022, when his house and garden were cordoned off and treated as a crime scene.
Morgan was later released without charge.
The Met Police has confirmed to Inside Croydon that their investigation is continuing.
The arrest was believed to be connected with a large number of officers who conducted a search of woods near How Lane. Allotments nearby were also searched by police.
Coulsdon councillors had to issue messages of reassurance after a man was seen to be vandalising hedges surrounding a local primary school.
Peter Morgan has never commented on the arrest, and has not responded to previous approaches.
Morgan had already made himself notorious in Croydon political circles for his stubborn opposition to the tram scheme and his opposition to anything which he deems to be “anti-motoring”, whether that be bus lanes, 20mph zones or even allowing children to walk to school.
Morgan rightly attracted widespread ridicule for claiming that walking to school is bad for children’s health. He also attracted public disgust for his efforts to prevent a 91-year-old Holocaust survivor from giving a talk to a meeting of the East Coulsdon Residents’ Association.
Morgan has been a serial local election candidate, for UKIP as well as an independent, without ever attracting much public support. He was also an influential figure with the racist apologists at the Croydon Communities Consortium.
Millionaire grifter: Nigel Farage’s company-cum-party has welcomed Peter Morgan and his ‘bat-shit crazy’ ideas
But he appears to have found a welcoming new political home among Reform UK, the money-spinning company led by grifter Nigel Farage.
In a recent email to Croydon Reform members, seen by Inside Croydon, “data analyst” Morgan wrote in his inimitable way: “Latest polling data shows LAB only 3.6% ahead of REF in Croydon borough – before the Croydon factor of LAB bad, and before the Budget.
“That means an excellent chance of winning the mayor – if we campaign strongly across the whole borough.”
Morgan then refers to two graphics, including one which shows “the level of car use”.
Motoring-obsessed Morgan writes, now using bold type, presumably for emphasis: “There is a clear and strong link between high and higher levels of support for REF and high and higher levels of car use. Equally the reverse also holds strongly – we don’t have support where car use is low…
“In Croydon South, where CON are strong, a campaign with pro-car policies is likely to attract CON voters to REF.
“In Croydon East, where CON are strong, ie Selsdon and Shirley, again pro-car policies will attract CON voters – and also some LAB voters.
“In New Addington, car use is high and REF are strong, so again pro-car wins.”
“Pro-car” Morgan is reckoned to have cost Croydon Council “something over £100,000 in staff time and admin overheads in dealing with his often ludicrous ideas and objections” to the tram proposals in the 1990s, according to a former Town Hall staffer.
His efforts to make scrapping the tram system official Reform policy at the local elections could cost Farage’s party, which has a constant credibility crisis, far more.
“Peter Morgan shouldn’t be anywhere near politics regardless of the level. He is dangerous,” was the firm opinion of one Reform member to contact Inside Croydon.
Read more: Worries over ‘nasty’ Peter Morgan’s part in Croydon Reform UK
Read more: Coulsdon West residents in move to kick out plotter Morgan
Read more: Lobbyist Morgan threatens to block car-free zones near schools
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I think I’ve just managed to loosen my head by shaking it so much
With “bat-shit crazy” Peter Morgan on Reform’s side, that is the best news for the prospects of Croydon’s long-standing political duopoly, Hapless Labour and the Nasty Tories. and their hopes of retaining control of bankrupt Croydon Council next year. Hopefully, that does not extend to piss-poor’s efforts to secure a second term as Croydon Mayor, to try to complete his efforts at running the council into the ground.
Deform really want to take the people back to the bad old days when the 130 or the 64 bus was the only way in and out of New Addington to Croydon.
Has he found a comminity group to infiltrate lately? The Croham Clux Clan used to be a Kipper front organisation – if it’s still going, I got banned from its Facebook so don’t know – I’m sure he’ll find kindred spirits.
Five years ago, when most people were worried about catching covid and were looking forward to Christmas, Peter was putting the finishing touches to his plan for a much-needed revolution at the Coulsdon West Residents Association
https://insidecroydon.com/2020/12/29/car-lobbyists-christmas-coup-over-coulsdon-residents-group
Despite living literally on the wrong side of the tracks, as with Hitler and the Rhineland in 1936, Peter knew that a true leader never lets trivialities like borders get in the way of their ambitions. Unfortunately for him, his leadership of a residents’ association for an area in which he did not reside was all too brief. The ungrateful locals rebelled, and his support from local Conservatives melted away.
Instead of hiding in the shadows, Peter should be bold once more, and put his popularity to the vote: stand for election as a councillor in his ward of Coulsdon Town. His former mate, Tory Councillor Mario Creatura, is ineligible for re-election there as he neither lives nor works in the borough. That means there’s a great opportunity for Peter to finally get the power and glory he thinks he deserves
Stop the boats! Stop the trams!
Reform one again showing their ignorance on who is responsible for what in local government and relying on residents ignorance as well.
In the county council elections this year across the country they said they would do things that weren’t the responsibility of the council.
In Kent they promised the return of weekly bin collections despite that not being a Kent County Council function.
Then their own elected councillors complaining about the low pay and they would have to attend meetings during the day.
One complained that he was being contacted by local residents asking for help with various problems they were having with council services.
And now all the group infighting and resignations and suspensions as well.
Every organisation has its wierdos.
I have belonged to enough associations, groups, committees and parties in my time. They can be useful as they tend to throw themselves in to committees and activities, offending colleagues and detering members. They love delivering circulars and publicising events, but they are rarely personally popular. Then they are ostracised or asked to leave because equally enthusiastic members who don’t like their antics drift away.
If Reform has any sense, they will exclude a pest from meetings, explain that he is damaging the party’s image, and let slip to the press that this individual is known to be obsessive, deluded and probably barmy. However, when he’s gone to take over some other group, the people he put off from involvement will gradually come back and bring like-minded friends with them. Be careful what you wish for!
the reform party in croydon has made one big mistake by announcing they would scrap the tram system in new addington this is a vital service for the residents of addington of getting into croydon and for the trains to london from east croydon for work and on there return home from work they might of gauranteed themselves a loss of support for the reform party in the croydon mayoral and local elections in may 2026 they certainly could lose the support of old pensioners as reform have announced they would scrap the triple lock on state pensions if they were to enter into government heaven forbid if people are unhappy with labour and conservatives perhaps the green party would be the answer for croydon nationally across the country the green party is now level with labour and in some opinion polls overtaken labour as zack polanski is proving a very popular green party leader
As I understand the article, scrapping the trams is the policy of a maverick Reform member rather than the party itself…
It is not one “maverick” member, Bernie, but Peter “bat shit crazy” Morgan, who remains on the Farage party’s local committee.
Although given what we’re hearing about mass resignations of candidates and members over the imposition of an ex-Tory with ambitions to be an MP, it might be Morgan is soon the *only* one left…