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Tag Archives: Private Eye
You can take Steve Reed to water, but you can’t make him think
ANDREW FISHER, pictured right, in his latest column for Inside Croydon, looks at the case for ending the ‘legalised larceny’ that is water privatisation, as the environment secretary sinks deeper into the mire The review commissioned by Steve Reed, the … Continue reading
Posted in Andrew Fisher, Business, South West Water, Steve Reed MP, Streatham and Croydon North, Thames Water
Tagged Channel 4 News, Clive Lewis MP, Croydon, DEFRA, Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs, Feargal Sharkey, Great British Railways, Heidi Alexander, Labour, London, Margaret Thatcher, Nationalisation, Private Eye, Steve Reed OBE, Streatham and Croydon North, Thames Water, Water nationalisation
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Labour vote-fixing whistleblower outs himself at CLP meeting
LABOUR SELECTION SCANDAL: Nearly eight months late, grassroots members finally got to have a democratic say over who their local officials should be – with intriguing revelations at the constituency’s annual meeting. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES “Mr Anonyvoter”, Mark Henson, … Continue reading
Labour refuses to deny suspensions over Croydon East ‘fix’
LABOUR SELECTION SCANDAL: The interim chair of a new CLP will not be presiding over an important meeting to be held next month, members have been informed, as the party is accused of vote-rigging ‘on an industrial scale’. EXCLUSIVE by … Continue reading
Posted in 2024 General Election, 2024 London elections, Carole Bonner, Croydon East, David Evans, Maddie Henson, Simon Hall, Tony Newman, Woodside
Tagged Carole Bonner, Croydon, Croydon and Sutton, Croydon and Sutton (London Assembly constituency), Croydon East, Croydon East CLP, David Evans, Labour, Maddie Henson, Mark Henson, Michael Crick, Mrs Anonyvoter, Private Eye, Simon Hall, Tony Newman
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Hat-trick heroes: Perry and Philp set an Eye ‘awards’ record
It’s the annual awards that no local council ever wants to feature in. But this year, thanks to Tory double act Jason Perry and Chris Philp, Croydon Council has picked up no fewer than three “gongs” in Private Eye’s much-anticipated … Continue reading
Croydon 2023: the Penn Report, dog attacks and those giraffes
THE YEAR IN REVIEW Part 2 – May to August If there was one good thing to come out of Croydon Council this year, then it must have been the Penn Report. Katherine Kerswell, the council’s chief executive, had held … Continue reading
Posted in "Hammersfield", Art, Borough of Culture 2023, Business, Crime, Croydon Council, Heathfield House, History, Inside Croydon, Knife crime, Mayor Jason Perry, Sarah Jones MP, Whitgift Centre
Tagged Borough of Culture, CODA, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Croydon Operatic and Dramatic Association, David Morgan, giraffes, Hammersfield, Hammerson, Ian Hislop, Ken Towl, Labour, Mayor Jason Perry, Private Eye, Purley Way, Tory, Utah, Wastefield, Westfield, Whitgift Centre, Whitgift Foundation
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Cost of failure: report says Negrini’s lined up new pay-off
Might Jo Negrini – “Negreedy” as she was less-than-fondly known by colleagues when she was chief executive at Croydon Council – be heading for a second overly generous pay-off in just three years? Next month will see the anniversary of … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Tony Newman
Tagged Arup, Croydon, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Private Eye, Tony Newman
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Plight of Norwood’s White House attracting widespread support
A magazine architecture column that was first edited by Sir John Betjeman has added its considerable clout to the campaign to save and preserve the White House, the grand, Victorian-built mansion at the top of sloping parkland at Norwood Grove. … Continue reading
Posted in Community associations, Croydon Council, Croydon parks, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Environment, History, Mayor Jason Perry, Norbury, Norwood Grove, Norwood Society
Tagged Covington Way, Croydon parks, Gavin Stamp, Mayor Jason Perry, Norwood Grange, P&O, Private Eye, Randall Davidson, Sir John Betjeman, The White House
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Croydon is made a national laughing stock, Part 94. And Part 95
No sooner had the nation’s best-selling satirical magazine had a good laugh (again) at Croydon’s expense after featuring the latest example of the council’s bungled handling of vast amounts of public money, than the borough has popped up again in … Continue reading
Croydon gets two pokes in the Eye over Newman and Negrini
The national media really is waking up to the scandal in Croydon, with the latest issue of Private Eye having not its usual one, regular report about the basketcase borough, but two. And that includes a prominent place on the … Continue reading
‘Spectacularly useless’ Croydon is ridiculed on Question Time
The parlous state of Croydon Council’s finances, and the chronic incompetence of the people in charge of them, made it on to national television last week. Thursday night’s Question Time on BBC1 broke away from its obsessions with Brexit and … Continue reading
Mayor maintains Croydon’s record in Rotten Boroughs awards
Staff at Fisher’s Folly had something to celebrate this week, after Croydon Council managed to make it into the annual Private Eye magazine round-up of the country’s rottenest boroughs for a sixth year in a row. Someone has even suggested … Continue reading
Crisis-hit Dombey facing Hackbridge election challenge
Already a source of frequent ridicule in a national satirical magazine, now Sutton’s LibDem council leader is facing a new threat to her power as challengers emerge from Labour, as CARL SHILTON reports What’s been a bad few weeks for … Continue reading
Posted in Ben Andrew, Paul Burstow MP, Ruth Dombey, Sutton Council, Tom Brake MP
Tagged Ben Andrew, Conservative, Dave Tchiligirian, Hackbridge, Labour, Liberal Democrats, New Mill Quarter, New Mill Quarter Residents Association, Private Eye, Ruth Dombey, Sheldon Vestey, Sutton, Sutton Council, Tory
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Dombey in crisis as two more LibDem councillors quit
CARL SHILTON on troubling times for Sutton’s beleaguered leader To lose one senior councillor in the weeks before crucial local elections might be seen to be unfortunate. But to lose three of her closest supporters, including her deputy leader, in less … Continue reading
Eye! Eye! Croydon gets two gongs in Rotten Boroughs awards
The annual round-up of greed, venality and incompetence among the country’s local authorities has seen our council out-perform many others, yet again. But did satirical fortnightly magazine Private Eye miss a trick over one former ‘award-winner’? Perhaps the governance and … Continue reading
Negrini lands cushty consultancy with ex-council supplier
EXCLUSIVE (and available in all good, and some not-so-good, newsagents): The exec who walked away with a £440,000 pay-out from the borough she helped to bankrupt has re-emerged with a juicy ‘consultancy’ from one of the firms she used to … Continue reading
Council’s latest lame excuse: our phones don’t work properly
CROYDON IN CRISIS: Britain’s rottenest borough is now blaming faulty phone lines for needlessly prosecuting residents over Council Tax, when the householders can’t get through to Fisher’s Folly to make their payments. By STEVEN DOWNES Last month, on the first … Continue reading
Now it’s the Fairfield Halls fiasco that gets one in the Eye
Britain’s best-selling satirical fortnightly returns to Croydon’s financial woes – and says police should be called in to investigate deals around unfinished arts centre refurbishment While some citizen bloggers claim to try “to emulate Private Eye”, the professional journalists here … Continue reading
Council scoops top award among most rotten boroughs
Croydon Council has been handed the ultimate accolade: the most rotten of boroughs in the 2020 Rotten Borough Awards, revealed today in the latest edition of Private Eye magazine. The awards are always hotly contested, with the greed, venality and … Continue reading
Posted in Brick by Brick, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Tony Newman
Tagged Brick by Brick, Croydon, Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Labour, Private Eye, Rotten Boroughs, Tony Newman
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It’s official(ish)! Croydon’s a rotten borough – Murdoch says so
‘Croydon has not so much overspent as bet on losers,’ according to The Times today. KEN LEE reports on how, belatedly, the collapse of our council has finally become national news The Thunderer has spoken. The parlous state of Croydon’s … Continue reading
Newman plays a numbers game and exposes his short-comings
Could a Town Hall chamber boast by the bungling council leader have managed to reveal that the Fairfield Halls’ prestigious panto struggled to sell tickets? Oh yes it did… Our arts correspondent, BELLA BARTOCK, reports Tony Newman gets yet another … Continue reading
Posted in Ashcroft Theatre, BH Live, Comedy, Dance, Fairfield Halls, Music, Neil Chandler, Theatre, Tony Newman
Tagged Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Private Eye, Tony Newman
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It’s a hat-trick! Housing wins unwanted new plaudit for council
BARRATT HOLMES, our housing correspondent, reports on how Croydon’s bungling over its Brick by Brick privatised development company has managed to see our local authority feature among the rottenest boroughs of the year – for the third year running It’s … Continue reading
Elvery’s devoted staff can’t account for his expenses claim
Nathan Elvery, a man who did so much to create the culture and ethos that has been prevalent at Croydon Council during his reign there as chief finance officer, deputy CEO and ultimately as top banana, appears to have taken … Continue reading
Posted in Croydon Council, Nathan Elvery, Tony Newman
Tagged Nathan Elvery, Private Eye, West Sussex County Council
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It’s official: Croydon has claim as Britain’s rottenest borough
WALTER CRONXITE on another set of awards, but ones which you won’t be reading about on the council’s website Private Eye, the country’s best-selling satirical magazine, today publishes its eagerly awaited annual Rotten Borough Awards for 2018. Well-paid council executives … Continue reading
Posted in Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Tony Newman
Tagged Croydon Council, Jo Negrini, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Private Eye, Rotten Boroughs, Tony Newman
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Dombey gets Sutton in the Eye over Incinerator Academy
Ruth Dombey’s relentless drive to have Sutton regarded as the rottenest borough in south London got another boost today, as her Liberal Democrat-run council got yet another dishonourable mention in Private Eye magazine. The scurrilous satirical fortnightly features on its … Continue reading
Posted in Environment, London-wide issues, Refuse collection, Ruth Dombey, Schools, Sutton Council, Tom Brake MP, Waste incinerator
Tagged Beddington Lane incinerator, Hackbridge, Hackbridge Primary School, Liberal Democrats, Private Eye, Ruth Dombey, Sutton Council, Tom Brake MP, Viridor
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Flawed inspection regime highlights health risks of incinerators
Four years ago, Simon Hoar, a cabinet member in the Conservative group that controls the Town Hall, was distributing leaflets in Waddon ward offering a solemn promise that he and his colleagues, if re-elected to the council, would stop the … Continue reading
