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Category Archives: Hamida Ali
Wheatley is appointed as chair of housing improvement panel
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Nine months after the conditions in council flats in South Norwood caused a national scandal, and after spending £104,000 on one director who never bothered meeting the Regina Road Residents’ Support Group, the council has got around … Continue reading
Posted in Community associations, Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Housing, Regina Road Residents' Support Group, South Norwood, South Norwood Community Kitchen, South Norwood Tourist Board
Tagged Alison Knight, Croydon, Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Labour, Martin Wheatley, Regina Road, Regina Road Residents' Support Group, South Norwood
3 Comments
Two years late and council safety ‘strategy’ is barely changed
After a week when the borough’s streets were smeared in blood once again, after stabbings on Church Street in the town centre and on Central Parade in New Addington, Croydon’s dysfunctional council is finally getting around to publishing an updated … Continue reading
Croydon at centre of racism allegations over council homes
The scandal surrounding Croydon’s council housing last night plumbed new depths, as ITV News – who first exposed the “appalling” conditions in flats in South Norwood – broadcast a report which strongly suggested that many social housing tenants are stigmatised … Continue reading
Posted in Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Housing, London-wide issues, South Norwood
Tagged Council housing, Regina Road, South Norwood
1 Comment
Veteran councillor Ryan is deselected while in hospital bed
WALTER CRONXITE, political editor, on the latest casualties of the council’s financial collapse Pat Ryan, a Croydon councillor for nearly 30 years, was last night deselected by members at a Labour Party meeting in his home ward of Crystal Palace … Continue reading
Posted in 2022 council elections, Addiscombe East, Addiscombe West, Amy Foster, Bensham Manor, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Felicity Flynn, Hamida Ali, Humayun Kabir, Jerry Fitzpatrick, John Wentworth, Kola Agboola, Leila Ben-Hassel, Mike Bonello, New Addington North, New Addington South, Nina Degrads, Norbury, Pat Ryan, Patsy Cummings, Shafi Khan, South Norwood, Steve Reed MP, Woodside
Tagged Addiscombe West, Amy Foster, Croydon Council, Crystal Palace, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Felicity Flynn, Hamida Ali, John Wentworth, Kola Agboola, Labour, New Addington, Pat Ryan, Rowenna Davis, Tony Newman
2 Comments
Ali offered £3.1m lifeline to help reduce cuts to services
CROYDON IN CRISIS: One Labour councillor has provided an idea which could help to reduce some of the drastic cuts in the Town Hall budget. But so far, they’ve not received a reply. By WALTER CRONXITE, political editor It’s a … Continue reading
Newman backers say they want to be Labour’s Mayor candidate
Next week marks one year since the council was forced to declare itself effectively bankrupt. For some senior Labour councillors, it’s almost as if they played no part in the borough’s financial collapse. By STEVEN DOWNES Three members of Tony … Continue reading
Posted in 2022 council elections, 2022 Croydon Mayor election, Alisa Flemming, Callton Young, Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Jamie Audsley, Jason Perry, Manju Shahul Hameed, Sarah Jones MP, Section 114 notice, Steve Reed MP, Val Shawcross
Tagged Alisa Flemming, Callton Young, Croydon, Croydon Central, Croydon Council, Croydon North, Croydon South, Donna Murray-Turner, Jamie Audsley, Labour, Manju Shahul Hameed, Mayor, Sarah Jones MP, Steve Reed OBE, Tony Newman
4 Comments
Cash-strapped council still going over-budget, report finds
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Government commissioners say that there’s been ‘an opportunity missed’ because of the slow pace of change under council CEO. By STEVEN DOWNES Katherine Kerswell, the chief executive of the cash-strapped council, has been subjected to overt criticism … Continue reading
Posted in Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Improvement Board, Katherine Kerswell, Report in the Public Interest, Richard Ennis, Section 114 notice, Tony McArdle
Tagged Department for Levelling Up, DLUHC, Hamida Ali, Improvement Panel, Katherine Kerswell, Report in the Public Interest, S114, Section 114, Tony McArdle
6 Comments
Council rehomes families from overcrowded Regina Road flats
EXCLUSIVE: New heaters have been promised by the middle of this month, as officials finally start to make changes for those living in ‘appalling’ conditions in South Norwood council flats. By STEVEN DOWNES Families with more than two children living … Continue reading
Posted in Clive Fraser, Community associations, Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Health, Housing, Patricia Hay-Justice, Patsy Cummings, Regina Road Residents' Support Group, South Norwood
Tagged Croydon, Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Labour, Patricia Hay-Justice, Regina Road, Regina Road Residents' Support Group, South Norwood
1 Comment
I paid my LTN fine. I won’t be returning to the town centre soon
CROYDON COMMENTARY: In an open letter to council leader Hamida Ali, Kenley resident RICHARD RUSSELL expresses his dismay with the current state of the borough I received a penalty charge notice, fined £65 for driving into Parsons Mead low traffic … Continue reading
Posted in Broad Green, Croydon Council, Environment, Hamida Ali, TfL, Transport
Tagged Fairfield Halls, Low Traffic Neighbourhood, LTN, Parsons Mead, Whitgift Centre
20 Comments
Council leader Ali rules herself out of running to be Mayor
EXCLUSIVE: Newman’s protégé makes a call for ‘a break from the recent past’ at the Town Hall. Plus another sitting Labour councillor decides against standing in 2022. By STEVEN DOWNES The Tony Newman era at Croydon Town Hall should really, … Continue reading
Labour to pick their Mayor candidate just in time for Christmas
EXCLUSIVE: Political editor WALTER CRONXITE reveals how Labour is giving potential mayoral candidates barely a week to put themselves forward for a selection process which appears to have Steve Reed’s fingerprints all over it Anyone wanting to be considered as … Continue reading
Posted in 2022 Croydon Mayor election, Alisa Flemming, Carole Bonner, Croydon Central, Croydon Council, Croydon North, Hamida Ali, Jamie Audsley, Jason Perry, Leila Ben-Hassel, Sarah Jones MP, Steve Reed MP, Tony Newman, Val Shawcross
Tagged Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Central, Croydon Council, Croydon North, Donna Murray-Turner, Hamida Ali, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor, Sarah Jones MP, Steve Reed OBE, Tory, Valerie Shawcross
2 Comments
Cummings and Lewis start the ‘chicken run’ for safe wards
WALTER CRONXITE, political editor, on the unedifying scramble among some Labour councillors to find a safe ward to stand in at next May’s local elections The chicken run is underway among the borough’s Labour councillors, with at least one current … Continue reading
Posted in 2022 council elections, Addiscombe East, Alison Butler, Bensham Manor, Hamida Ali, Humayun Kabir, Jamie Audsley, Jeet Bains, Louisa Woodley, Maddie Henson, Mike Bonello, New Addington South, Oliver Lewis, Patsy Cummings, Paul Scott, Raj Rajendran, South Norwood, Steve Reed MP, Tony Newman, Woodside
Tagged Addiscombe East, Alison Butler, Bensham Manor, Croydon, Croydon Council, Jamie Audsley, New Addington, Oliver Lewis, Paul Scott, South Norwood, Steve Reed OBE, Tony Newman, Woodside
4 Comments
Labour wants to cut voluntary sector funding by a ‘full Negrini’
CROYDON IN CRISIS: A year after they gave a ‘golden handshake’ to the council CEO who helped bankrupt the borough, part of the £38.4m Town Hall budget cuts will impact dozens of charities and community groups. EXCLUSIVE By STEVEN DOWNES … Continue reading
Posted in Age UK Croydon, CAYSH, Charity, Community associations, Croydon CAB, Croydon Council, Croydon Vision, CVA, Hamida Ali, Jo Negrini, Mind in Croydon, South West London Law Centres, Steve Phaure, Whitgift Foundation
Tagged Asian Resource Centre of Croydon, Croydon, Croydon BME Forum, Croydon Carers Support Centre, Croydon Council, Croydon Voluntary Action, CVA, Hamida Ali, Jo Negrini, Labour, Steve Phaure, Whitgift Foundation
7 Comments
Cynical, hypocritical and devious: benefit cut to hit thousands
CROYDON IN CRISIS: For weeks, the Town Hall’s Labour leadership has been planning a cut to Council Tax discounts that will cost some of the borough’s poorest £25 per week or more – and see ‘means testing’ used in the … Continue reading
Posted in Callton Young, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Stuart King
Tagged Callton Young, Council Tax, Council Tax Support, Croydon, Croydon Council, CTS, DPAC, Hamida Ali, Labour, STUART KING
4 Comments
The referendum result shows that time for change is overdue
CROYDON COMMENTARY: Last week’s decisive vote for a new way of running the council should only be a first step, according to an open letter to all the borough’s councillors from Kenley resident BRIAN WATSON Now that a directly elected … Continue reading
Ali’s efforts at spin catch the eye of not-so-noble judges
CROYDON COMMENTARY: In a week when two journalists were announced as winners for the Nobel Peace Prize for their courageous work in fighting for freedom of speech against despots, GEOFF JAMES reports on a less well-publicised award-winning effort Nobel Prizes … Continue reading
After defeat, pressure mounts on ‘lame duck’ council leader
CROYDON IN CRISIS: ‘We mocked the electorate by putting burning £20 notes on our election material’. What now for Croydon Labour, after a nasty and petty waste of around £20,000 in party funds on a referendum campaign they could never … Continue reading
Posted in 2021 Mayor Referendum, Andrew Pelling, Croydon North, Hamida Ali, Steve Reed MP, Tony Newman
Tagged Andrew Pelling, Croydon, Croydon Council, DEMOC, Democratically Elected Mayor for Croydon, Gerry Meredith-Smith, Hamida Ali, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Steve Reed OBE, Tony Newman, Waddon
5 Comments
Croydon votes 4-to-1 in favour of having directly elected mayor
CROYDON IN CRISIS: After a disastrously run, high-spending campaign by Labour opposing change, every ward in the borough voted for a new way of running the council. By STEVEN DOWNES Katherine Kerswell took to the low stage at Trinity School … Continue reading
Posted in 2021 Mayor Referendum, 2022 council elections, Croydon Council, Croydon North, Hamida Ali, Katherine Kerswell, Steve Reed MP, Tony Newman
Tagged #ABitLessShit, Croydon, Croydon Council, Croydon North, DEMOC, Democratically Elected Mayor for Croydon, Hamida Ali, Katherine Kerswell, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Mayoral referendum, Steve Reed OBE, Tony Newman
24 Comments
Nothing adds up as Labour plays numbers game over mayor
REFERENDUM COUNTDOWN: On the eve of polling day, the many shortcomings of a shambolic and expensive campaign waged by Labour to oppose a change to an elected mayor seem about to be exposed. By STEVEN DOWNES The same people who … Continue reading
Posted in 2021 Mayor Referendum, Croydon Council, Croydon North, Hamida Ali, Sarah Jones MP, Steve Reed MP
Tagged Chris Philp MP, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Croydon North, Croydon South, DEMOC, Democratically Elected Mayor for Croydon, Labour, Sarah Jones MP, Steve Reed OBE, Tory
3 Comments
Further £38.4m to be sliced from next year’s council budget
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Town Hall leadership hoped to keep the latest round of cuts secret until after next week’s referendum, as the consequences of the borough’s bankruptcy start to hit home. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES £12m of adult social care … Continue reading
Posted in 2021 Mayor Referendum, Adult Social Care, Callton Young, Croydon Council, GLL - Better, Hamida Ali, Jason Cummings, Leisure services, Libraries, Purley Pool, Richard Ennis, Section 114 notice, Stuart King, Tony Newman
Tagged Callton Young, Conservative, coronavirus, Council budget, Covid-19, Croydon, Croydon Council, DEMOC, Democratically Elected Mayor for Croydon, Hamida Ali, Labour, Purley, Purley Pool, Richard Ennis, Save Purley Pool Campaign, Section 114, Steve Reed OBE, STUART KING, Tory
21 Comments
Labour councillor was given ‘no real reason’ for deselection
CROYDON IN CRISIS: The damaging ‘Groupthink’ culture under the toxic leadership of Tony Newman remains firmly in place at the Town Hall, where an elected official has told colleagues he was blocked from standing despite never breaking any rules. EXCLUSIVE … Continue reading
Regina Road residents angry as Knight ducks another meeting
CROYDON IN CRISIS: The blundering £800 per day bureaucrat in charge of fixing the council’s ‘appalling’ housing has cancelled a scheduled meeting with residents. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES and MICHAEL NELSON Residents of the tower blocks on Regina Road are … Continue reading
Posted in Alison Knight, Community associations, Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Housing, Katherine Kerswell, Regina Road Residents' Support Group, South Norwood
Tagged Alison Knight, Croydon, Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Katherine Kerswell, Labour, Regina Road, Regina Road Residents' Support Group, South Norwood
7 Comments
Town Hall leadership hatched plan to break election budget
EXCLUSIVE: Labour councillors who crashed the borough’s finances decided to ignore the Election Commission’s strict rules on spending for their anti-mayor referendum campaign. By STEVEN DOWNES Hamida Ali, the leader of the Labour group at the council, wanted to break … Continue reading
Reed goes video ga-ga as Labour campaign gets desperate
CROYDON COMMENTARY: If the lies don’t get you angry, the cant and hypocrisy surely will. STEVEN DOWNES, Editor of Inside Croydon, on the barrel-scraping going on over next month’s mayoral referendum At a time when Michael Gove is put in … Continue reading
Posted in 2021 Mayor Referendum, Croydon Council, Croydon North, Hamida Ali, Steve Reed MP, Stuart Collins, Tony Newman
Tagged Croydon, Croydon Council, Croydon North, DEMOC, Democratically Elected Mayor for Croydon, Hamida Ali, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor, Steve Reed OBE, Tony Newman
18 Comments
