Tag Archives: Barwell

Labour council passes £5.7m cuts to benefits for vulnerable

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Town Hall leaders, most of whom presided over the council’s financial collapse, last night voted to take £116 per month from the borough’s poorest and most vulnerable. But the vote was not as straightforward as they expected. … Continue reading

Posted in 2022 council elections, 2022 Croydon Mayor election, Andrew Pelling, Clive Fraser, Council Tax, Croydon Central, Croydon Council, Section 114 notice, Stuart King, Tony Newman, Waddon | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

‘Leftie’ Barwell adds to chorus of disapproval over ‘Partygate’

Two of south London’s Conservative MPs are damaging their own integrity with their floundering appearances on television to defend lying Prime Minister Boris Johnson, reports WALTER CRONXITE, political editor Croydon and Sutton’s senior Tory MPs, government junior ministers Chris Philp … Continue reading

Posted in Boris Johnson, Chris Philp MP, Croydon Central, Croydon South, Gavin Barwell, Paul Scully MP | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Poll misery for Perry as #Partygate could cost him council seat

CROYDON IN CRISIS: The latest opinion polls suggest that despite bankrupting the borough, Labour could increase its number of councillors in May’s Town Hall elections. STEVEN DOWNES reports Inside Croydon’s mole in the lawns of Croydon Tories’ suburban Purley headquarters … Continue reading

Posted in 2022 council elections, 2022 Croydon Mayor election, Chris Philp MP, Croydon Council, Croydon South, Jason Perry, Maria Gatland, Michael Neal, Robert Ward, Selsdon and Addington Village, South Croydon, Val Shawcross | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Boff bashes Boris, as careerist Philp digs himself into a hole

Croydon’s only Conservative MP is rapidly developing a reputation for cravenly saying anything that might get him a promotion. By our political editor, WALTER CRONXITE Croydon South’s Tory MP Chris Philp is looking increasingly marginalised, and more ridiculous than ever, … Continue reading

Posted in 2022 council elections, Andrew Boff, Boris Johnson, Chris Philp MP, Croydon South, Gavin Barwell, London Assembly, London-wide issues, Shaun Bailey | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

‘Unbelievable’: Barwell joins chorus of condemnation for PM

Tory grandees, and Gavin Barwell, have begun to turn on Prime Minister Boris Johnson over his and his wife’s attendance at what The Times was today describing as a “boozy shindig” in the Downing Street garden during the first covid … Continue reading

Posted in Boris Johnson, Croydon Central, Gavin Barwell, Sarah Jones MP | Tagged , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

After wasted decade, Mayoral candidates need town centre plan

How do you replace a long-promised but never delivered £1.4bn redevelopment in the town centre? In his first column of 2022, ANDREW FISHER (left) offers some suggestions Croydon’s town centre has suffered a torrid time of late. The biggest queues … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", 2022 Croydon Mayor election, Andrew Fisher, Boris Johnson, Business, Centrale, Croydon College, Croydon Council, Education, Gavin Barwell, Housing, London-wide issues, LSBU campus, Planning, Property, Timothy Godfrey, Transport, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

The truth will out: ‘Lord’ Barwell turns on old mate Johnson

“Lord” Gavin Barwell, the sometime Tory MP for Croydon Central and former Downing Street Chief of Staff, has this morning turned on his old mucker, Blundering Boris Johnson, and called for “total honesty” from No10 over the mounting Christmas party … Continue reading

Posted in Boris Johnson, Gavin Barwell, Housing, London-wide issues, Mayor of London | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Businesses furious over Tory’s Christmas lights blame game

Our south of the borough correspondent, PEARL LEE,  on the latest controversy caused by Coulsdon’s most witless councillor Councillor Mario Creatura, the failed Conservative parliamentary candidate, has caused fury among local businesses and residents in the ward he is supposed … Continue reading

Posted in Business, Coulsdon, Coulsdon Town, Mario Creatura | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Council governance is poor due to lack of competent cultures

REFERENDUM COUNTDOWN: Yesterday, we reported MP Steve Reed’s Labour Conference speech, where he made a strong case of devolving power – just not in his own constituency, where he has been arguing against a directly-elected mayor over the past few … Continue reading

Posted in 2021 Mayor Referendum, Leila Ben-Hassel, Norbury | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

According to Barwell, Starmer cost Labour the 2019 election

WALTER CRONXITE, our political editor, got his hands dirty at the weekend, in an effort to save you the uncomfortable displeasure of reading The S*n, and to save you 20 quid For more than 30 years, families on Merseyside and … Continue reading

Posted in 2019 General Election, Gavin Barwell | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Tenants’ despair and politicians’ disdain: Britain’s slum crisis

STEVEN DOWNES on the television documentary being broadcast on Sunday night which seems certain to shock the nation and pour shame on Croydon Council all over again You might think you couldn’t be shocked any more. But you’d be wrong. … Continue reading

Posted in Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Housing, Lambeth Council, London-wide issues, Merton, Regina Road Residents' Support Group, South Norwood, Southwark Council | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Council concedes the end of its retail dream for town centre

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Do you feel ‘fortunate’ that the long-promised, council-backed scheme to regenerate the town centre has flopped? Because that’s the spin that Town Hall chiefs are putting on the collapse of the project and the end of a … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", Allders, Business, Centrale, CPO, Croydon Council, Growth Zone, Heather Cheesbrough, Jo Negrini, Oliver Lewis, Planning, Sarah Hayward, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Barwell and four ex-ministers summoned to Grenfell inquiry

Gavin Barwell, the former Conservative MP for Croydon Central, is one of five former government ministers who will be called to give evidence to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry in the autumn. “Lord” Barwell is to be summoned together with his … Continue reading

Posted in Gavin Barwell, Housing | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Grenfell victims still waiting for Barwell’s inquiry summons

CROYDON COMMENTARY:  The former Croydon Central MP this week backed calls for a public inquiry to be held urgently into the Conservative government’s mishandling of its response to the coronavirus pandemic. But as one loyal reader observes, ‘Lord’ Barwell has … Continue reading

Posted in Gavin Barwell | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Barwell backs Cummings’ call for inquiry into covid response

Gavin “Lord” Barwell, the former Croydon MP and sometime Downing Street chief of staff, has waded into the row over yesterday’s explosive account of the government’s chaotic and ill-prepared response to covid-19 given to a Westminster committee by Dominic Cummings. … Continue reading

Posted in Boris Johnson, Gavin Barwell, Health | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Leader’s office forced Labour mayors to pull out of meeting

Officials working for Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, backed by his party’s two Croydon MPs, pressured a pair of directly-elected mayors from other London boroughs to pull out of a public meeting held in Croydon last night. “We were lent … Continue reading

Posted in 2021 Mayor Referendum, 2022 council elections, Alison Butler, Andrew Pelling, Community associations, David Evans, Jamie Audsley, Sarah Jones MP, Steve Reed MP, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

You’re caught in a trap: Barwell’s election advice to Labour

CROYDON COMMENTARY: Recriminations over Thursday’s elections, in particular Labour’s loss of the Hartlepool parliamentary seat, will continue for some days yet as other results, including the London Assembly and council by-elections, trickle in. Here, former Tory MP GAVIN BARWELL, pictured, … Continue reading

Posted in Gavin Barwell | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

Lockdown shop closures will extend town centre’s blight

Our retailing correspondent MT WALLETTE reports that covid’s impact on the High Street leave little hope of Westfield’s long-promised redevelopment on North End any time soon One-tenth of shops in London are now vacant, according to the latest figures for … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", Business, Centrale, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Banned! Barwell blocks Inside Croydon from his little chat

In the week that the Grenfell fire inquiry resumed, the former minister who failed to act on multiple warnings about the dangers around tower blocks is staging a cosy little fund-raiser all about his ‘career’. We wanted to listen in. … Continue reading

Posted in Coulsdon, Croydon Central, Gavin Barwell, Ken Towl, Mario Creatura | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Thornton Heath ‘boosted’ by Camilla’s vaccination centre visit

Health service workers, volunteers and those Thornton Heath locals arriving at a local church for their coronavirus vaccination appointment at lunchtime today were given an added boost when the Duchess of Cornwall turned up on a visit to see the … Continue reading

Posted in Croydon CCG, Gavin Barwell, Health, Thornton Heath | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

‘Best in the business’ Creatura lands new Westminster job

WALTER CRONXITE, political editor, on the latest job manoeuvre by someone whose political ambitions exceed his abilities Mario Creatura, the Tory councillor who sought the help of the SPAC Nation cult church to try to win him the Croydon Central … Continue reading

Posted in Coulsdon, Croydon Central, Gavin Barwell, Mario Creatura | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Barwell’s Downing Street book is promising ‘revelations’

Gavin Barwell, the author of the less-than-acclaimed How To Lose A Marginal Seat, has been signed up to write another book. As if the £305 per day attendance allowance at the House of Lords was not enough, nor the various … Continue reading

Posted in Croydon Central, Gavin Barwell | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

French boardroom revolution could force Westfield sell-off

By STEVEN DOWNES It is looking increasingly likely that Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield will look to unload any interests they hold in the long-promised £1.4billion redevelopment scheme for Croydon town centre. It is almost two years since URW decided to “review” the already … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", Business, Centrale, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Newman leaves it to others to clear up as he quits as leader

TOWN HALL SKETCH: Finally, reluctantly, Croydon’s council leader agrees to stand down. But, as STEVEN DOWNES reports, Tony Newman might hang around for a while yet, ‘like a fart in a lift’ It was barely 10 minutes in, and this … Continue reading

Posted in Alison Butler, Croydon Council, Gavin Barwell, Jo Negrini, Paul Scott, Sarah Jones MP, Steve Reed MP, Stuart Collins, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Tories in call for Town Hall meeting and Newman’s resignation

Town Hall reporter KEN LEE on how the borough’s Conservative opposition appears to be waking from its slumbers, as the council leader is accused of ‘reckless financial mismanagement’ Jason Perry, in his first significant act as leader of the Conservative … Continue reading

Posted in Chris Philp MP, Croydon Central, Croydon Council, Croydon North, Croydon South, Gavin Barwell, Jason Perry, Sarah Jones MP, Simon Hall, Steve Reed MP, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment