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Tag Archives: Rachel Reeves
Croydon’s 6.6% unemployment rate is among worst in capital
Croydon has one of the worst unemployment rates in London, according to the latest figures. There are 1.8million unemployed across the country, which the Office for National Statistics said, outside the covid pandemic, is the highest level nationally since August … Continue reading
Posted in Bromley Council, Business, Lambeth Council, London-wide issues, Merton, Southwark Council, Sutton Council
Tagged Bromley, Budget, Budget 2025, Chancellor Rachel Reeves, Conservative, Croydon, Department of Work and Pensions, DWP, Jobseekers Allowance, Labour, Lambeth, London, Merton, Office for National Statistics, ONS, Rachel Reeves, Southwark, Sutton, Tory, Underemployment, unemployment
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‘A disaster’: Gatwick expansion is real threat to environment
‘Signing off on a new runway at Gatwick is not just reckless, it is fundamentally incompatible with Britain’s legally binding climate obligations’. Yet Croydon’s Tory and Labour politicians are in full support of the airport expansion. By PAUL LUSHION, environment … Continue reading
Posted in Business, Croydon Area Remodelling Scheme, Croydon Council, Croydon East, Croydon Greens, Croydon West, East Croydon, Environment, London-wide issues, Mayor Jason Perry, Natasha Irons, Norwood Junction, Sarah Jones MP, Transport, Zack Polanski
Tagged CARS, Chancellor Rachel Reeves, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Area Remodelling Scheme, Gatwick, Gatwick Airport, Gatwick Airport expansion, Green Party, Heidi Alexander, Labour, Mayor Jason Perry, Natasha Irons MP, Rachel Reeves, Sarah Jones MP, Selhurst Bottleneck, Tory, Zack Polanski
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After the riots, survey finds we are not an ‘island of strangers’
Have we really lost our sense of community? Or are we all just people separated by our mobile devices? Our columnist ANDREW FISHER, right, looks at some interesting data from a piece of academic research PLUS: Jeremy Corbyn stands up … Continue reading
Posted in Andrew Fisher, Community associations, Croydon East, Croydon South, Croydon West, Libraries, Streatham and Croydon North
Tagged allotments, Andrew Fisher, Angela Rayner, Citizens UK, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon East, Croydon South, Croydon West, immigration, Jeremy Corbyn, Keir Starmer, Labour, London, More in Common, Rachel Reeves, Reform UK, Southport, Streatham and Croydon North, This Place Matters, Tory, UCL, University College London
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Austerity has been a ‘false economy’ says economics professor
In our latest Andrew Fisher Interview, our columnist discusses Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ Spending Review with Jo Michell, Professor of Economics at the University of the West of England in Bristol Given the news around Croydon Council over the past few … Continue reading
Posted in Andrew Fisher, Inside Croydon, The Andrew Fisher Interview, Under The Flyover
Tagged Andrew Fisher, austerity, Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, Government Spending Review, Jo Michell, Labour, Labour Government, Podcast, Professor Jo Michell, Rachel Reeves, Spending Review, Spotify, The Andrew Fisher Interview, Under The Flyover, University of the West of England
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Reeves’ Spending Review sees Labour take London for granted
Taking Londoners, and Labour voters in London, for granted in a big effort to secure ‘Red Wall’ areas less loyal to the party looks like a ploy straight out of the Morgan McSweeney playbook. By WALTER CRONXITE, Political Editor The … Continue reading
Posted in Council Tax, Croydon Council, Housing, London-wide issues, Mayor of London, Policing, Sadiq Khan
Tagged Chancellor of the Exchequer, Chancellor Rachel Reeves, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Darren Jones, Labour, LCA, London, London Assembly, London Borough of Croydon, London Communications Agency, Mayor, Morgan McSweeney, Rachel Reeves
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‘Council’s finances remain broken’ MP Irons tells Commons
Local government minister admits that Croydon’s finances ‘are not small problems to deal with’ Natasha Irons, the Labour MP for Croydon East, yesterday made an 11th-hour plea to government ministers to act to salvage something from the wreckage of Croydon … Continue reading
Posted in Adult Social Care, Children's Services, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Croydon East, Housing, Mayor Jason Perry, Natasha Irons, Section 114 notice
Tagged Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, EFS, Exceptional financial support, Government Spending Review, Jim McMahon, Labour, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Natasha Irons MP, Rachel Reeves, Section 114, Section 114 Notice, Spending Review, Tory
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Bad for disabled people. Bad for unemployment. Bad for growth
Our columnist ANDREW FISHER on the Chancellor’s Spring Statement and the impact it could have on Croydon Last week, Labour announced it would cut £5billion from the social security benefits that disabled people receive. In the Orwellian, anti-truth language now … Continue reading
Posted in Andrew Fisher
Tagged Andrew Fisher, Budget, Chancellor Rachel Reeves, Ellen Clifford, Keir Starmer, Rachel Reeves, Spring Statement
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Labour polling shows MP Reed more unpopular than Starmer
A survey published this week shows that the Streatham and Croydon North MP is one of the least popular figures in the government – and that’s among his own party’s supporters. By WALTER CRONXITE, Political Editor Bad news for Steve … Continue reading
Homelessness strategies we’ve had to date have not worked
The government’s homelessness strategy must include plans for long-term funding of services and an Affordable Homes Programme which focuses on providing thousands more social housing. That’s according to some of the leading charities in the sector, who have been expected … Continue reading
The Andrew Fisher Interview: cuts are ‘a life or death issue’
With an estimated one million people facing having their benefits reduced by Labour Chancellor Rachel Reeves in an announcement expected next week, our latest Andrew Fisher Interview meets disability rights campaigner Ellen Clifford to talk about what she calls ‘a … Continue reading
Posted in Andrew Fisher, Inside Croydon, The Andrew Fisher Interview, Under The Flyover
Tagged Andrew Fisher, Department for Work and Pensions, Disabled People Against the Cuts, DPAC, DWP, Ellen Clifford, Labour, Labour Government, Podcast, Rachel Reeves, Spotify, The Andrew Fisher Interview, Under The Flyover
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MP Jones’s Swiss role has her missing Ruskin House karaoke
Organisers of a Croydon Labour fund-raising karaoke night to be staged at Ruskin House have said privately that they are “disappointed” that Croydon West MP Sarah Jones will be giving the event a miss, after she jetted out to Davos … Continue reading
Posted in Croydon West, Sarah Jones MP
Tagged Croydon West, Davos, Jonathan Reynolds, Karaoke, Labour, Rachel Reeves, Ruskin House, Sarah Jones MP, World Economic Forum
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The public knows what matters to them. But does PM Starmer?
Happy New Year? Maybe not for Keir Starmer’s Labour, as it grapples with the twin issues of the economy and the NHS, says ANDREW FISHER in his first column of 2025 This year is likely to be a very tricky … Continue reading
Posted in Andrew Fisher
Tagged Andrew Fisher, Croydon, Economy, Labour, London, NHS, Rachel Reeves, Wes Streeting
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It’s time to dust off plans to unblock rail’s Selhurst Bottleneck
Among the many items that never warranted even a passing mention in Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ Budget last week were significant railway infrastructure schemes, which some economists believe should get support and so help get the economy moving at full steam … Continue reading
Tories back Perry to have another go as £82,000 per year Mayor
Remember, remember, the fifth of November… There might be an election going on elsewhere today, but in Croydon the selection results are already in, and local Conservatives are standing full-square behind part-time Perry in his bid to remain as Mayor. … Continue reading
Posted in 2026 council elections, 2026 Croydon Mayor election, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Mayor Jason Perry, Neil Garratt, Rowenna Davis
Tagged Budget, Conservative, Council Tax, Croydon, Croydon Council, Green Party, Keir Starmer, Labour, Liberal Democrats, London, London Assembly, London Borough of Croydon, Mayor Jason Perry, Rachel Reeves, Tory, Two-child benefit cap, Winter Fuel Payment
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Three large private schools will cut fees to reduce sting of VAT
Education correspondent GENE BRODIE on how one of Croydon’s biggest eceonomic sectors is adjusting to the horrors of having to charge tax At least three of Croydon’s largest private schools plan to reduce their fees from next January, to take … Continue reading
Posted in Andrew Halls, Croydon High, Education, Old Palace, Schools, Whitgift School
Tagged Andrew Halls, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Croydon, Croydon High School, Labour, Old Palace of John Whitgift School, Rachel Reeves, Royal Russell School, The Budget, VAT, Whitgift Foundation, Whitgift School
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Dear Rachel: Croydon’s a microcosm for much of what is wrong
Ahead of next Wednesday’s Budget, the first Labour Budget in 14 years, columnist ANDREW FISHER, right, has penned this open letter to Chancellor Rachel Reeves Dear Rachel, Record NHS waiting lists, a housing crisis, growing levels of child poverty, backlogs … Continue reading
Mayor Perry will hike Council Tax by more than 5% if allowed
CROYDON IN CRISIS: In a trick of political deviousness, Chancellor Rachel Reeves might be able to claim she has not broken a manifesto commitment while Croydon’s Mayor will keep to his ‘pledge’. But ordinary residents will all end up paying … Continue reading
Oxford professor explains Budget in Andrew Fisher Interview
“The austerity period that started in 2010 was a first-year undergraduate mistake.” That’s the view of Oxford economics professor Simon Wren-Lewis in the first of a new podcast strand from Under The Flyover, The Andrew Fisher Interview, available exclusively to paying … Continue reading
Suited and booted: Norbury Alli’s donations and No10 access
WALTER CRONXITE, political editor, profiles the former Stanley Tech pupil who has risen to become a millionaire media mogul and the Labour Party’s biggest donor The clue is in his Lordship’s title. But the “Free Gear Keir” cronyism storm was … Continue reading
Posted in Business, Harris Academy South Norwood, Norbury, Schools, Steve Reed MP, Streatham and Croydon North
Tagged Angela Rayner, Bob Geldof, Charlie Parsons, Croydon, Croydon North, Jeremy Corbyn MP, Keir Starmer, Lord Alli, Lord Waheed Alli, Norbury, Norwood Grove, Planet 24, Rachel Reeves, Siobhain McDonagh MP, South Norwood, Stanley Tech, Steve Reed OBE, Streatham and Croydon North, Sue Gray, Tony Bliar, Waheed Alli
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A chill wind is blowing as Labour breaks pensioners’ pledge
Columnist ANDREW FISHER on Rachel Reeves, the £20bn ‘black hole’ in government finances and why cutting winter fuel allowance for pensioners is such a bad first move by the new government That the Tories left the country and our public … Continue reading
Posted in Andrew Fisher
Tagged Age UK, Andrew Fisher, Conservative, Croydon, Keir Starmer, Labour, Rachel Reeves, Tory, Wes Streeting, Winter Fuel Allowance
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As Robotic Reeves ‘pauses’ hospital builds, St Helier crumbles
Our Sutton reporter, BELLE MONT, on the latest, devastating setback to NHS provision in this part of London Less than a month since being elected with a historically large majority, the recriminations are beginning to be heard around Keir Starmer … Continue reading
Posted in Bobby Dean, Elliot Colburn, Health, Luke Taylor MP, Paul Burstow MP, St Helier Hospital, Sutton and Cheam
Tagged Bobby Dean MP, Carshalton and Wallington, Conservative, Elliot Colburn, Epsom and St Helier NHS Trust, Labour, Liberal Democrats, London, Luke Taylor MP, Paul Burstow, Rachel Reeves, St Helier Hospital, Sutton and Cheam, Tom Brake, Tory
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