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→

‘The country cannot deliver growth, reform public services or improve life chances without fixing local government finances’ according to the Local Government Association in its pre-Budget submission to the Chancellor On the same day that Katherine Kerswell quit as Croydon …Continue reading→

‘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→

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→

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→

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→

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→

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→

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→

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→

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→

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→

Sutton Council is set to introduce measures which will force some of the poorest in the borough, including the disabled and unemployed, to pay Council Tax for the first time. It is an effort by the Liberal Democrat-controlled council under …Continue reading→

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→

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→

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→

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Labour’s first Budget in 14 years made no mention of councils with ‘toxic debt’ or any reframing of the central government’s settlement with local authorities. Political editor WALTER CRONXITE assesses what has been described as ‘a mixed …Continue reading→

BUDGET 2024: Inside Croydon has already interviewed an Oxford professor about the state of the economy and sent an open letter to Rachel Reeves about what needs to be done for England’s beleagured local councils. Now it seems the Chancellor’s …Continue reading→

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→

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→

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→

“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→

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→

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→

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→