Tag Archives: Boris Johnson

Before you next vote, you must read this from The New Yorker

By STEVEN DOWNES If you live in an old country, it can be easy to succumb to a narrative of decline. The state withers. The charlatans take over. You give up on progress, to some extent, and simply pray that … Continue reading

Posted in 2024 General Election, 2024 London elections, Inside Croydon | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Croydon peer Barwell calls for ex-PM Truss to lose party whip

Get the pop corn, there’s another row in the Tories over ‘PopCon’, as right-whingers reveal themselves once more as ‘the Nasty Party’. By our political editor, WALTER CRONXITE Gavin Barwell, the former Croydon MP and now a semi-detached member of … Continue reading

Posted in 2024 General Election, Gavin Barwell, Mario Creatura | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Corbyn London candidacy wouldn’t stop Mayor Khan, says poll

According to polling by a Conservative Party donor, the Tory candidate for London Mayor is Susan Who? Then again, some voters think the City Hall chief is George Clooney… By our Political Editor, WALTER CRONXITE Jeremy Corbyn could stand as … Continue reading

Posted in 2024 General Election, 2024 London elections, Crime, Ken Livingstone, Knife crime, London Assembly, London-wide issues, Mayor of London, Policing, Sadiq Khan, Shaun Bailey, Susan Hall | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Met’s community police officers down by two-thirds since 2015

While the Home Office ramps up the demands on the police service in the capital and maintains its pretence that there are “more police officers in England and Wales than ever before”, official figures show that there are 64% fewer … Continue reading

Posted in Andy Brittain, Crime, Knife crime, Policing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Westfield boss says Croydon scheme could take 15 more years

‘Sustainable’ plans for redeveloping the town centre could see as many as 30,000 new flats built, according to one council figure, but a scheme that was originally due to be completed in 2017 now might only be finished more than … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", Allders, Business, Centrale, Sean Fitzsimons, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

‘This is a once-in-a-generation chance. We have to get it right’

A public meeting tomorrow at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre aims to outline the plans for a £200m refurbishment – and work is already underway. By STEVEN DOWNES Early arrivers for a presentation tomorrow about the future of the Crystal … Continue reading

Posted in 2012 Olympics, Athletics, Bromley Council, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Crystal Palace Park, Lambeth Council, London-wide issues, Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, Southwark Council, Sport | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Hammer blow for Whitgift Centre with new delay to masterplan

CROYDON IN CRISIS: No more ‘Death Star’-type, £1.4bn Westfield shopping mall say developers, who want to build ‘thousands’ of flats, as Paris-based firm looks for a more sustainable approach In a hammer blow to any hope of urgently rescuing the … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", Business, Centrale, Croydon Council, Housing, Mayor Jason Perry, Planning, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 24 Comments

Top 10 of the week’s crankery, fantasies, fallacies and Tory lies

ANDREW FISHER has chronicled the most bizarre and reckless claims and misjudged announcements from this week’s Conservative Party conference The cavalcade of crankery known as the Conservative Party annual conference is over for another year. But just in case you … Continue reading

Posted in Andrew Boff, Andrew Fisher, Chris Philp MP, Gavin Barwell, Sadiq Khan, Susan Hall | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Starmer reshuffle sees Croydon MP Reed shunted to DEFRA

WALTER CRONXITE, political editor, on how today’s Labour front bench job creation scheme might be taken as proof that turds do somehow manage to rise to the surface… Steve Reed OBE, the right-wing MP who shunted another Labour MP out … Continue reading

Posted in 2024 General Election, Boris Johnson, Croydon Central, Croydon North, Environment, Sadiq Khan, Sarah Jones MP, Steve Reed MP, Streatham and Croydon North, ULEZ, ULEZ expansion | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

ULEZ is here to stay and the health benefits are on the way

Opposition to the Ultra Low Emission Zone, which has been expanded to much of outer London today, has simply demonstrated where third-rate Conservative politicians’ priorities lie – and that’s not with the public nor the planet. By our environment correspondent, … Continue reading

Posted in 2024 London elections, Bexley, Boris Johnson, Bromley Council, Business, Coulsdon, Environment, Health, Kenley, London-wide issues, Mayor Jason Perry, Mayor of London, Purley, Sadiq Khan, Steve Reed MP, Surrey, Susan Hall, Sutton Council, TfL, Transport, ULEZ, ULEZ expansion | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 19 Comments

Driven to distraction, pro-car Tories are bad for your health

ANDREW FISHER on how the latest manifestation of ‘culture wars’, with attacks on anti-pollution policies and safer roads, smacks of desperation by failing politicians in Westminster and in Croydon The Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election is casting a long shadow … Continue reading

Posted in Andrew Fisher, Boris Johnson, Croydon Council, Environment, Health, London-wide issues, Mayor Jason Perry, Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, TfL, Transport, ULEZ, ULEZ expansion | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 19 Comments

7% swing not enough in Uxbridge after Reed’s mixed messages

ANDREW FISHER on yesterday’s by-election results, and the key role played by a Croydon politician in Labour’s flawed campaign in an outer London seat Yesterday’s three parliamentary by-elections tell us that the Conservatives will lose the next General Election. But … Continue reading

Posted in 2024 General Election, 2024 London elections, Andrew Fisher, Ben Taylor, Chris Philp MP, Croydon North, Croydon South, Steve Reed MP | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Getting Johnson out: lying ex-PM exposes Sunak’s weakness

354-7: last night, Parliament had its say on the Privileges Committee’s damning report into Boris Johnson’s misconduct. ANDREW FISHER, pictured right, on how Croydon and Sutton’s MPs voted, and why the ex-PM is running scared of scrutiny In the House … Continue reading

Posted in Andrew Fisher, Boris Johnson, Chris Philp MP, Croydon Central, Croydon North, Croydon South, Sarah Jones MP, Steve Reed MP | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Disbelief as Scully is left out of Conservatives’ mayor race

With the Express describing the decision as a ‘clusterfuck’, Sutton and Cheam MP’s thwarted bid to become Mayor of London is early casualty of the Tory party’s psychodrama over law-breaking, lying and philandering Boris Johnson, reports CARL SHILTON Red faces … Continue reading

Posted in 2024 London elections, Boris Johnson, London Assembly, London-wide issues, Mayor of London, Paul Scully MP, Susan Hall, Sutton Council | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Mayor who took on Trump is ready for his ULEZ showdown

‘You don’t make our country more level by making London poorer’: Sadiq Khan on why keeping the city competitive with its European rivals and cleaning up the capital’s toxic air remain key principles for City Hall Less than 12 months … Continue reading

Posted in 2024 London elections, Business, Commuting, Environment, Health, London-wide issues, Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, TfL, Transport, ULEZ, ULEZ expansion | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Khan set to splash the cash to re-open Crystal Palace pools

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has approved the immediate spending of up to £10million to bring key parts of the National Sports Centre at Crystal Palace back into use, providing for urgent repairs to the Olympic-sized swimming pool and for the … Continue reading

Posted in Athletics, Boris Johnson, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Crystal Palace Park, London-wide issues, Mayor of London, Planning, Sadiq Khan, Sport, Swimming | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Scully gets serious in race to be London Mayor candidate

Sutton and Cheam’s Conservative MP Paul Scully is to “pause” his Government role as minister for the capital while he campaigns to win selection to be his party’s candidate in next year’s London Mayor elections. Scully, 55, is the founder … Continue reading

Posted in 2024 London elections, Andrew Boff, Boris Johnson, London-wide issues, Mayor of London, Paul Scully MP, Sadiq Khan, Shaun Bailey, ULEZ expansion, Zac Goldsmith MP | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Centrale’s owners set to sell-up to Westfield in cut-price deal

Our vacated shopping centre correspondent, MT WALLETTE, on the latest multi-million-pound boardroom manoeuvres over Croydon’s developer-blighted North End It has taken more than a decade, but Westfield’s hostile takeover of the Centrale shopping mall in Croydon town centre looks as … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", Business, Centrale, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Chinese police station on High Street leaves MP Philp spooked

Two Croydon MPs clashed in the House of Commons yesterday, as the Tory Government faced criticism from security services and its own backbenches over its failure to act against infiltration by the Chinese state. By WALTER CRONXITE, political editor Croydon … Continue reading

Posted in Business, Chris Philp MP, Crime, Croydon Central, Croydon South, Sarah Jones MP | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Perry’s back-pedalling furiously on Boris-backed bike scheme

Croydon Mayor’s long-term opposition to safe cycling infrastructure could yet lead to a scheme along Brighton Road causing someone serious injury, maybe worse, as the council fails to act on a potential death trap. By JEREMY CLACKSON, transport correspondent The … Continue reading

Posted in Boris Johnson, Crime, Croydon Council, Croydon Cycling Campaign, Environment, Health, Maria Gatland, Mayor Jason Perry, Purley, Ria Patel, South Croydon | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Bromley’s £1.2m design tender to overhaul Crystal Palace Park

After years of delay and dither, local authority moves to start a nine-year improvement project to realise park’s ‘potential to be a national asset for the benefit of the local community’ Bromley Council is looking to spend at least £1.2million … Continue reading

Posted in Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Crystal Palace Park, Environment | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Taxing times for Perry as he deploys Negrini as his ‘dead cat’

Try not to get your hopes up too much ahead of next week’s Penn Report meeting, suggests STEVEN DOWNES. The Mayor might be over-promising before under-delivering again Is Jo Negrini being used as a “dead cat” by Croydon Mayor Jason … Continue reading

Posted in "Hammersfield", Brick by Brick, Business, Colm Lacey, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Mayor Jason Perry, Richard Simpson, RIPI II: Fairfield Halls, The Penn Report | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

London Stadium deal could give Crystal Palace new lease of life

After decades of damaging dither and delay, might an eclectic coalition of bodies, including a Premier League football club, be about to come up with a plan, and the cash, to revive the NSC? By STEVEN DOWNES Might there be … Continue reading

Posted in 2012 Olympics, Athletics, Boris Johnson, Business, Community associations, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, London-wide issues, Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, Sport, Swimming | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Pro-pollution Scully to challenge Khan for anti-London Tories

The Conservatives in London, under threat of being wiped out as a political force at the next General Election (with the possible exception of Croydon South), are positioning themselves as the pro-car, pro-pollution party in a desperate effort to win … Continue reading

Posted in 2024 London elections, Evening Boris, London-wide issues, Mayor Jason Perry, Mayor of London, Paul Scully MP, Sadiq Khan | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Croydon needs deal that could set precedent for all councils

CROYDON IN CRISIS: A government-appointed inspector, council directors and senior councillors all agree that throwing millions more at the cash-strapped council won’t fix its deep-seated problems. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES The Tories who control Croydon Town Hall have already done … Continue reading

Posted in Brick by Brick, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Improvement Board, Jane West, Jason Cummings, Jo Negrini, Mayor Jason Perry, Mike Fisher, Section 114 notice, Tony McArdle, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments