Steven Downes
@sdownes.bsky.social
Father, husband, journalist and author. Winner of Royal Television Society award. Founder InsideCroydon.com. Former Editor of Athletics Weekly. Secretary SJA for 12 years.
Want some writing or editing done, or have a story tip? stevenwdownes@gmail.com
Want some writing or editing done, or have a story tip? stevenwdownes@gmail.com
Reposted by Steven Downes
Millionaire developer Ansari loses appeal on guard dog charges insidecroydon.com/2025/11/11/m... #Croydon #Crime #Heritage @thevicsoc.bsky.social @englishheritage.bsky.social @camraofficial.bsky.social @rspcaoffficial.bsky.social
Millionaire developer Ansari loses appeal on guard dog charges
After having his conviction related to his giant guard dogs upheld, controversial Croydon figure now focuses on his planning appeals over the Leslie Arms pub in Addiscombe, a listed building on the…
insidecroydon.com
November 11, 2025 at 2:37 PM
Millionaire developer Ansari loses appeal on guard dog charges insidecroydon.com/2025/11/11/m... #Croydon #Crime #Heritage @thevicsoc.bsky.social @englishheritage.bsky.social @camraofficial.bsky.social @rspcaoffficial.bsky.social
Reposted by Steven Downes
Police seize counterfeit goods and cash from Croydon shops insidecroydon.com/2025/11/11/p... #Croydon #Brixton #PoliceRaids @brixtonbuzz.bsky.social @greenwichwire.bsky.social
Police seize counterfeit goods and cash from Croydon shops
Shops in Croydon and in Brixton have been among 30 sites raided by the Metropolitan Police, seizing hundreds of thousands of pounds-worth of counterfeit goods and suspected illegal cash as part of …
insidecroydon.com
November 11, 2025 at 12:06 PM
Police seize counterfeit goods and cash from Croydon shops insidecroydon.com/2025/11/11/p... #Croydon #Brixton #PoliceRaids @brixtonbuzz.bsky.social @greenwichwire.bsky.social
Reposted by Steven Downes
Rookie firefighter steps up to rescue 3 kids in Norbury blaze insidecroydon.com/2025/11/11/r... #Croydon #Norbury #Hero @london-fire.bsky.social @london.gov.uk
Rookie firefighter steps up to rescue 3 kids in Norbury blaze
A firefighter in his first week on the job played a vital part in rescuing a family, including three children, when they were trapped in a second-floor flat in Norbury after an e-bike battery explo…
insidecroydon.com
November 11, 2025 at 11:25 AM
Rookie firefighter steps up to rescue 3 kids in Norbury blaze insidecroydon.com/2025/11/11/r... #Croydon #Norbury #Hero @london-fire.bsky.social @london.gov.uk
Reposted by Steven Downes
Nearly two years ago, I wrote about the extraordinary influence of former Tory spin doctor Sir Robbie Gibb on the BBC. It's still a helpful backgrounder for what's going on now. New readers start here: www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/media/...
How the government captured the BBC
A right-wing cabal, largely unaccountable, is waging war on the principles that made our public broadcaster great. It must not succeed
www.prospectmagazine.co.uk
November 10, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Nearly two years ago, I wrote about the extraordinary influence of former Tory spin doctor Sir Robbie Gibb on the BBC. It's still a helpful backgrounder for what's going on now. New readers start here: www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/media/...
Reposted by Steven Downes
This is v worthwhile and is the future of local journalism
Support your independent, locally-based news website. Click here to sign-up as a donor: patreon.com/insidecroydon #Croydon #News #Journalism
November 11, 2025 at 9:41 AM
This is v worthwhile and is the future of local journalism
Reposted by Steven Downes
The second half of this podcast dropped last night.
The first 15 minutes or so is among the best explanations of what we need to be doing, and what we have failed to do, that you are likely ever to hear.
@fisherandrew79.bsky.social @adambienkov.bsky.social
The first 15 minutes or so is among the best explanations of what we need to be doing, and what we have failed to do, that you are likely ever to hear.
@fisherandrew79.bsky.social @adambienkov.bsky.social
Pleasure to speak to Mark Steel on his podcast 'What the F*** is Going On?'
Listen to part 1 here:
open.spotify.com/episode/65Gz...
Listen to part 1 here:
open.spotify.com/episode/65Gz...
EP 169 with Andrew Fisher (Part 1)
Spotify video
open.spotify.com
November 8, 2025 at 3:47 PM
The second half of this podcast dropped last night.
The first 15 minutes or so is among the best explanations of what we need to be doing, and what we have failed to do, that you are likely ever to hear.
@fisherandrew79.bsky.social @adambienkov.bsky.social
The first 15 minutes or so is among the best explanations of what we need to be doing, and what we have failed to do, that you are likely ever to hear.
@fisherandrew79.bsky.social @adambienkov.bsky.social
Reposted by Steven Downes
Remembrance and History: a special Croydon Insider episode insidecroydon.com/2025/11/09/r... #Croydon #Remembrance
Remembrance and History: a special Croydon Insider episode
Can you help in our appeal, with the Deputy Lieutenant of Croydon, in providing details of personnel from Croydon who have been killed on active duty in the years since the end of World War II? On …
insidecroydon.com
November 9, 2025 at 12:01 PM
Remembrance and History: a special Croydon Insider episode insidecroydon.com/2025/11/09/r... #Croydon #Remembrance
Reposted by Steven Downes
Croydon spaghetti restaurant named UK's best at trade awards insidecroydon.com/2025/11/10/c... #Croydon #Shirley #Warlingham #Spaghetti
Croydon spaghetti restaurant named UK’s best at trade awards
Literally rising from the ashes of a malicious arson attack two years ago, the Spaghetti Tree, with branches in Warlingham and Shirley, has been rated the country’s best independent Italian r…
insidecroydon.com
November 10, 2025 at 1:59 PM
Croydon spaghetti restaurant named UK's best at trade awards insidecroydon.com/2025/11/10/c... #Croydon #Shirley #Warlingham #Spaghetti
Reposted by Steven Downes
Everything on our news agenda is being driven by a corrupted disinformation machine, run by a billionaire who sponsors Tommy Robinson and who keeps trying to foment civil war in the UK.
And incredibly our MPs & news providers stay there.
THAT is the problem. Not some bad editing choice on the BBC.
And incredibly our MPs & news providers stay there.
THAT is the problem. Not some bad editing choice on the BBC.
November 10, 2025 at 9:18 AM
Everything on our news agenda is being driven by a corrupted disinformation machine, run by a billionaire who sponsors Tommy Robinson and who keeps trying to foment civil war in the UK.
And incredibly our MPs & news providers stay there.
THAT is the problem. Not some bad editing choice on the BBC.
And incredibly our MPs & news providers stay there.
THAT is the problem. Not some bad editing choice on the BBC.
Reposted by Steven Downes
The reaction to the Panorama edit has been nothing short of hysterical. Yes the BBC has some impartiality problems. But its biggest isn't the one you think.
New piece from me.
open.substack.com/pub/goodalla...
New piece from me.
open.substack.com/pub/goodalla...
The truth about impartiality at the BBC
And the hysteria of the current "crisis"
open.substack.com
November 10, 2025 at 7:22 PM
The reaction to the Panorama edit has been nothing short of hysterical. Yes the BBC has some impartiality problems. But its biggest isn't the one you think.
New piece from me.
open.substack.com/pub/goodalla...
New piece from me.
open.substack.com/pub/goodalla...
Reposted by Steven Downes
SUPERB and angrily unvarnished response, by former BBC chairman, Lord Patten.
"I don't think that we should allow ourselves to be bullied into thinking that the BBC is only any good, if it reflects the prejudice of the last person who shouted at it." ~AA
"I don't think that we should allow ourselves to be bullied into thinking that the BBC is only any good, if it reflects the prejudice of the last person who shouted at it." ~AA
November 10, 2025 at 6:40 PM
SUPERB and angrily unvarnished response, by former BBC chairman, Lord Patten.
"I don't think that we should allow ourselves to be bullied into thinking that the BBC is only any good, if it reflects the prejudice of the last person who shouted at it." ~AA
"I don't think that we should allow ourselves to be bullied into thinking that the BBC is only any good, if it reflects the prejudice of the last person who shouted at it." ~AA
Reposted by Steven Downes
Here's Why Donald Trump's Bid To Sue The BBC For $1 Billion May Already Be Doomed
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/heres-...
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/heres-...
Here's Why Donald Trump's Bid To Sue The BBC For $1 Billion May Already Be Doomed
The US president has given the corporation until Friday night to respond to his legal threat.
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk
November 11, 2025 at 7:20 AM
Here's Why Donald Trump's Bid To Sue The BBC For $1 Billion May Already Be Doomed
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/heres-...
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/heres-...
Reposted by Steven Downes
Reposted by Steven Downes
Glamorgan campaigners make plea for deadline day support insidecroydon.com/2025/11/10/g... #Croydon #Heritage #Pubs @camraofficial.bsky.social @englishheritage.bsky.social
Glamorgan campaigners make plea for deadline day support
Local campaigners in Addiscombe are hoping that enough people lodge protests before today’s deadline to object to developers’ appeal over the rejection of their plans to demolish a long…
insidecroydon.com
November 10, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Glamorgan campaigners make plea for deadline day support insidecroydon.com/2025/11/10/g... #Croydon #Heritage #Pubs @camraofficial.bsky.social @englishheritage.bsky.social
Reposted by Steven Downes
Visit Croydon Art Space to help brighten grey days of winter insidecroydon.com/2025/11/10/v... #Croydon #Art #Addiscombe
Visit Croydon Art Space to help brighten grey days of winter
Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat, and the latest Art Space exhibition, People and Landscapes, runs, very conveniently, up to December 18. When I visited recently, I was escorted by cur…
insidecroydon.com
November 10, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Visit Croydon Art Space to help brighten grey days of winter insidecroydon.com/2025/11/10/v... #Croydon #Art #Addiscombe
Reposted by Steven Downes
Cartyr follows in Farah's footsteps across Parliament Hill Fields insidecroydon.com/2025/11/10/c... #Croydon #CrossCountry #LondonYouthGames #LYG25
Cartyr follows in Farah’s footsteps across Parliament Hill Fields
Cartyr Jenkin won the boys’ under-11s gold medal running for Croydon at the London Youth Games staged at Parliament Hill Fields on Saturday. Jenkin covered the hilly 1.4-kilometre course in 5…
insidecroydon.com
November 10, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Cartyr follows in Farah's footsteps across Parliament Hill Fields insidecroydon.com/2025/11/10/c... #Croydon #CrossCountry #LondonYouthGames #LYG25
Reposted by Steven Downes
St Nicholas Day concert, Croydon Bach Choir, Dec 6
S U B S C R I B E R A D V E R T I S E M E N T
insidecroydon.com
November 10, 2025 at 9:53 AM
Reposted by Steven Downes
How by attempting to appease the forces on the right seeking to destroy them, the BBC has helped trigger a crisis that now threatens its very future
bylinetimes.com/2025/11/10/t...
bylinetimes.com/2025/11/10/t...
The BBC’s Attempts to Appease the 'Right-Wing Coup' Against It Are Now Seeding Its Own Destruction
By attempting to appease those forces seeking to destroy them, the BBC has helped trigger a crisis that now threatens its very future, argues Adam Bienkov
bylinetimes.com
November 10, 2025 at 12:39 PM
How by attempting to appease the forces on the right seeking to destroy them, the BBC has helped trigger a crisis that now threatens its very future
bylinetimes.com/2025/11/10/t...
bylinetimes.com/2025/11/10/t...
Reposted by Steven Downes
Get your latest Croydon news from insidecroydon.com.
Support our #journalism at www.patreon.com/insidecroydon
#Croydon
Support our #journalism at www.patreon.com/insidecroydon
#Croydon
October 7, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Get your latest Croydon news from insidecroydon.com.
Support our #journalism at www.patreon.com/insidecroydon
#Croydon
Support our #journalism at www.patreon.com/insidecroydon
#Croydon
Reposted by Steven Downes
The fact that the BBC has made serious culpable errors does not negate the point that there is a real and concerted right-wing media campaign to destroy it. Both points can be true at the same time and the campaign would not end even if the errors did.
November 10, 2025 at 1:08 PM
The fact that the BBC has made serious culpable errors does not negate the point that there is a real and concerted right-wing media campaign to destroy it. Both points can be true at the same time and the campaign would not end even if the errors did.
Reposted by Steven Downes
Should Gibb be sacked? yes, obviously. He's an abomination of basic journalistic standards. His GB News channel spreads conspiracy theory & disinformation. His Jewish Chronicle newspaper spreads invented stories. He is plainly trying to undermine the BBC so it's as bad as everything else he touches.
November 10, 2025 at 12:47 PM
Should Gibb be sacked? yes, obviously. He's an abomination of basic journalistic standards. His GB News channel spreads conspiracy theory & disinformation. His Jewish Chronicle newspaper spreads invented stories. He is plainly trying to undermine the BBC so it's as bad as everything else he touches.
Reposted by Steven Downes
Keeping in the LOOP can get us from Coulsdon to Banstead insidecroydon.com/2025/11/09/k... #Croydon #Walks #LOOP #Banstead #Coulsdon @ramblers.org.uk
Keeping in the LOOP can get us from Coulsdon to Banstead
WANDLE WANDERER: Crunching through the dried leaves of autumn makes this one of the better times of year to go off on a ramble. But avoiding the worst of the weather is something KEN TOWL discovere…
insidecroydon.com
November 9, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Keeping in the LOOP can get us from Coulsdon to Banstead insidecroydon.com/2025/11/09/k... #Croydon #Walks #LOOP #Banstead #Coulsdon @ramblers.org.uk
Reposted by Steven Downes
Age UK Croydon Christmas Fair, Scratchley Hall, Nov 29 insidecroydon.com/2025/11/09/a... #Croydon #Charity #Christmas @ageuklondon.bsky.social
Age UK Croydon Christmas Fair, Scratchley Hall, Nov 29
S U B S C R I B E R A D V E R T I S E M E N T
insidecroydon.com
November 9, 2025 at 10:33 AM
Age UK Croydon Christmas Fair, Scratchley Hall, Nov 29 insidecroydon.com/2025/11/09/a... #Croydon #Charity #Christmas @ageuklondon.bsky.social
Reposted by Steven Downes
Friends of Chaldon Church Quiz Night, Village Hall, Nov 28 insidecroydon.com/2025/11/09/f... #Chaldon #Community #Surrey
Friends of Chaldon Church Quiz Night, Village Hall, Nov 28
S U B S C R I B E R A D V E R T I S E M E N T
insidecroydon.com
November 9, 2025 at 9:50 AM
Friends of Chaldon Church Quiz Night, Village Hall, Nov 28 insidecroydon.com/2025/11/09/f... #Chaldon #Community #Surrey
Reposted by Steven Downes
More churn at the top as interim directors leave the council insidecroydon.com/2025/11/08/m... #Croydon #CroydonInCrisis
More churn at the top as interim directors leave the council
The rapid turnover among senior staff at Fisher’s Folly suggests that the ‘leadership issues’ which were in-part responsible for Commissioners being sent in to run Croydon Council…
insidecroydon.com
November 8, 2025 at 3:11 PM
More churn at the top as interim directors leave the council insidecroydon.com/2025/11/08/m... #Croydon #CroydonInCrisis