Labour Councillors in Merton have come up with a way of cutting down on scrutiny from opposition councillors – led by 17 Liberal Democrats. Last week’s Council meeting saw Labour force though a whole series of changes to the constitution which will drastically affect the ability of Opposition Councillors to hold them to account.

The draconian new rules:

• Limit accountability on key issues by halving the number of questions to Cabinet Members.
• Reduce the publication of key information on the administration’s performance and whether it’s meeting its own promises, by abolishing ‘strategic theme reports’ and questions.
• Stifle debate on issues residents care about by limiting opposition motions. For smaller groups – like the Conservatives – that’s to fewer than one a meeting. Independent councillors will rarely, if ever be able to propose motions.
• Gag minority political opinions. Again, smaller groups – like the Conservatives – will see their speaking time in debates limited.
• Rig the rule’s in Labour’s favour by fixing it so that Labour councillors get more speaking time in debates, and giving the Labour Leader of the Council unlimited interventions.

Labour barely attempted to justify these changes – they simply referred to ‘best practice‘ though they were not able to show any examples – nor could they point to any evidence that too many motions were being put or council meetings running on too long. The best clue came from a Labour Councillor at a previous meeting on the changes, who said she was ‘fed up with these interminable nights at full council‘: the meetings (six of them a year) are scheduled from 7.15 – 10.15 pm and rarely go over and then only by a few minutes. But three hours is too long for this Councillor (who gets an allowance of £12.3k a year), I suspect because she can’t bear hearing criticism of the way Labour run the Council.

Cllr Anthony Fairclough, Leader of the Merton Liberal Democrats, said:

Labour Council bosses seem terrified of public scrutiny, so they’re trying to silence the opposition and cover up bad news. These changes make it harder for councillors to do what we were elected to do – standing up for residents and challenging decisions.

This is a disgraceful power grab, and residents should be furious. Democracy in Merton is under threat – and we won’t stop fighting to defend it.

Merton Council meetings have becoming increasingly unpleasant with personal attacks and endless attacks on the Coalition (the record was twenty-three in one meeting) and there is no doubt of the fervent desire of Labour Councillors to hear less of our criticism of their record locally and nationally.

I suspect we will be seeing a lot more of this from Labour Councils as their incompetence becomes more visible and they can no longer blame the Government. Happily we will be making sure residents are well aware of the Labour Council’s failings in our campaign for the election in 2026.

* Simon McGrath is a councillor in Wimbledon and Whip of the Lib Dem Group on Merton Council.