Inside Croydon

With backing of London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan, Labour’s Leonie Cooper calls for water utilities ‘that put the needs of the public and the environment ahead of private profit’

Senior figures in the Labour Party in London have joined calls for the urgent re-nationalisation of Thames Water, in the latest push-back against environment secretary Steve Reed’s soggy mess of a water reform review.

Environmental campaigner Feargal Sharkey on live TV this morning called for the immediate resignation of the environment secretary, as the government’s Cunliffe Review is derided as a ‘joke’

Today’s announcement from environment secretary Steve Reed promising the “biggest overhaul of water since privatisation”, following the Cunliffe review of the water industry, went down about as well as a turd in a blocked toilet with environmentalists, campaigners and customers judging by the reactions to his weekend media round.

While Downing Street chief of staff Morgan McSweeney was conducting his latest purge in Westminster, back in his old stomping ground of Lambeth, a Labour councillor was suspended yesterday after being charged with a criminal offence.

Irfan Mohammed has been a Labour councillor at Brixton Town Hall since 2018, having been elected to represent Clapham Park ward in 2022.

A statement issued by Lambeth Labour said: “We have been made aware by the police that Councillor Irfan Mohammed has been arrested and charged.

TfL is due to begin major road works on a scheme intended to make the A23 Streatham Hill “safer and better for residents and visitors”, the transport authority said today.

The scheme will create new pedestrian crossings, a protected cycling route and what TfL says will be improved bus lanes for quicker bus journeys.

Transport for London said today that there will be lane closures on Streatham Hill from Monday August 4 until “the autumn”, which seems conveniently vague, but buses will continue to operate their normal routes.

Steve Reed OBE, the MP for Streatham (and Croydon North if he can be bothered), and the environment secretary in Keir Starmer’s government, is facing renewed calls to renationalise privatised water companies, after the biggest, Thames Water, today reported an annual loss of £1.65billion as its debts soared to £16.8billion.

Thames Water’s annual report came the day after the company – which has never built a single reservoir since it was privatised – announced a hosepipe ban affecting 1.1million customers.

A burst water main in Mitcham this morning disrupted water supplies to households across five postcodes in Croydon and Streatham.

Croydon Council described the burst main as “a major incident”.

The water main burst was on Commonside East, near Mitcham Common.

Much of the supply problem was due to a fault at a Thames Water booster station, which left some without any water, or low water pressure.

“We’re sorry if you have no water in the CR0, CR2, CR4, CR7 and SW16 areas,” Thames Water tweeted this morning.

Anthony Morrison, the man shot dead on Imperial Way last week, had been attending a wake following a funeral, it has emerged.

The Metropolitan Police has repeated its appeal for witnesses following the shooting outside CostCo at around 5pm on Thursday, June 19.

The police have already made an arrest. Byron Cole, aged 39, of Gleneldon Road, Streatham, has been charged with murder and possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life, and appeared at Bromley Magistrates’ Court earlier this week.

The Metropolitan Police have this morning named the victim of the shooting as Anthony Morrison. He was 41, and despite emergency treatment from paramedics he died at the scene. His family are being supported by specially trained officers.

Cole was arrested on Sunday. He also faces charges of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life.

A 37-year-old woman who was arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender has been released on bail pending further enquiries.

Simon Hinsta Ghebremedhin was today charged with the Frith Road murder of Marjama Osman last Saturday.

Police and emergency services were called to Frith Road, just off Church Street in Croydon town centre, on May 31 just after 9am, following reports of a stabbing.

Neighbours said that they had seen “a furious argument” taking place on the street before the stabbing: “There was very loud arguing, it was very aggressive. There were three people: a woman and two men,” one said.

Osman, 26, was declared dead at the scene from a single stab wound.

It appears that Steve Reed OBE, the MP for Streatham (and can’t be arsed with Croydon North), is not as big a football fan as he has tried to make out.

Reed, now the environment secretary in Keir Starmer’s Labour government, seemed more than happy to accept £1,786-worth of freebie VIP tickets for a Premier League game at Stamford Bridge in late 2023 when his hosts were Hutchison 3G UK Ltd, the owners of serial polluters Northumbrian Water.