Miliband praises Reed for helping Croydon’s riot victims

Labour leader Ed Miliband has praised Steve Reed’s record of standing up for Croydon North’s riot victims.   Speaking at a church in West Croydon this weekend he congratulated Steve Reed for helping victims win compensation in the face of long delays caused by the Tory-led Government and insurance companies.

Tory Prime Minister David Cameron and the Tory Mayor of London broke their promises to help every victim who lost a home, business or personal property.  David Cameron and Boris Johnson both walked along the devastated London Road in the days after the riots and promised people they would not be forgotten, but after the TV cameras had gone they left people waiting for years for the compensation they needed to rebuild their lives, then cut police and closed local police stations.

Steve, elected MP in a by-election in November 2012, took residents who’d lost their homes and businesses to meet Mr Miliband at the House of Commons. He also called a Parliamentary debate highlighting how only one seventh of the £250 million claimed had ever been paid out.  Croydon’s Tory Council was awarded £24million to help regenerate areas around West Croydon that were worst hit by the riots, but years later faced calls to pay the money back after they failed to spend it.  The senior councillor responsible for this negligence is now the Tories’ parliamentary candidate in Croydon North.

Steve said: “David Cameron promised he would help every victim get the compensation they needed to reopen devastated businesses and rebuild damaged homes after the riots.  But years later many innocent victims in Croydon had still received little or nothing at all.  I stood up for Croydon’s riot victims and helped more of them win the compensation they deserved to rebuild their lives.”