Tag Archives: merton liberal democrats

Simon McGrath

Tennis success for Cllr Paul Kohler, Wimbledon PPC

By Simon McGrath | Fri 1st July 2022 - 4:21 pm

Paul is not, alas, playing in the matches going on at the moment, but when he saw that the All England Club had hosted refugees from Ukraine at the Championships he wrote to the AELTC reminding them that we have refugees from other countries in the Merton and suggested that they should give them the opportunity to enjoy the tennis as well.

The Club have replied to him saying that that they had reflected on what he had said and were delighted to now be hosting refugees from Afghanistan and Syria who were living in Merton and Wandsworth on the ‘middle Sunday‘ of the Championships – and providing transport to help them get there.

Paul Kohler said:

This is a great example of community engagement by  the All England club. There are some areas we disagree with them on – notably their proposal to build on Metropolitan Open Land but I am so pleased that they have right thing. I hope our guests in the UK will be able to see some great tennis and our British players getting through to later rounds in the tournament.

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Simon McGrath

Finally, success helping low paid people working for Merton Council

By Simon McGrath | Thu 4th March 2021 - 12:48 pm

For the last 9 years Merton Lib Dems have been campaigning to help some of the poorest paid and hardest working people in our community – those who  look after people who need care.

We started 9 years ago with a question from a member of the public – me – at a Council meeting about the Council paying its staff the London Living Wage (LLW).   The answer was that it would cost £275k and would cause all sorts of difficulties.

A few months later  the Council announced that it had decided to pay all staff at least the LLW: the many difficulties to doing this had disappeared and the cost reduced to £47k.

That didn’t cover those working for Merton’s contractors though and in particular those working in social care. Mary-Jane Jeanes – then the sole Liberal Democrat councillor – proposed a motion that asked for Merton to commit to paying the staff of contractors the LLW and to commit to become a Living Wage Employer.

It was voted down by the Labour Group.

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Giles Bailey

Merton Lib Dems need you!

By Giles Bailey | Wed 3rd August 2016 - 4:27 pm

We need you here in Merton. We want you to be one of our two parliamentary candidates. We want the best and that’s why we’re asking you to think about us. We want to be open, transparent and democratic and that’s why we’re getting in touch.

It’s been agreed by our Regional Candidates Chair that we can vote on parliamentary candidates at a members’ meeting on the afternoon of 4th September.

Well, why us?

The numbers

  • At the referendum, the overall borough result was 63% Remain – but it was a fraction over 70% in Wimbledon constituency. Mitcham & Morden was in the 50s.
  • Wimbledon’s share of the vote in the 2015 General Election was 13%. If I recall correctly, this reflects the best Lib Dem result outside of a held/former held seat in London, one of only 2 two such constituencies to make it into double figures . . .
  • Our (current) target wards got some of the highest shares of the vote for the Lib Dem list on the London Assembly across the whole of London. 54th and 56th out of 649 to be precise. Those wards with better results are mainly those represented/formerly represented by Lib Dem MPs . . .
  • Merton has a significant creative sector and history – the Bill was filmed here! (And it’s also where William Morris had his textile factory).
  • We can’t not mention that Morden is home to the largest mosque in Western Europe, built in 2003, Baitul Futuh Mosque serves as the international headquarters of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community at large.
  • We’re a diverse borough: it’s not all about the Lawn Tennis Club or Wimbledon Village.

The political context

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 4 Comments
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