A message from Cllr Paul Kohler, councillor on Merton Council and Liberal Democrat Parliamentary candidate for the Wimbledon constituency

Over the last few days, many of my Liberal Democrat colleagues and I decamped to Bournemouth for the first in-person Autumn Liberal Democrat conference since 2019.

Liberal Democrat policy, unlike the other major parties, is directly debated and voted on by our members. Therefore, the policies passed this weekend will form a major part of our manifesto at the next General Election. These include fantastic new policies on everything from education to the environment, modern slavery to the NHS.

Many of the proposals being debated reflect things we have been fighting for locally and so I wanted to report back some of the key points directly relevant to our local community.

Royal Mail meeting

I met with Royal Mail to discuss ongoing issues with delivery in and around Wimbledon town centre. With them I went went through a summary of the results of the postal survey we recently conducted and raised specific areas of concerns. This meeting felt productive, however the proof will be in the pudding, and they have asked me to pass on particular roads where there are still persistent issues. If you have not filled in our survey yet, you can still do so here. 

Cancer waiting times cut

Lib Dem leader Ed Davey gave a deeply moving speech on his own experience of losing both his parents to cancer as a child and he reaffirmed our commitment to fighting the disease. We have committed to introduce a new legal right for cancer patients to start treatment within 62 days of an urgent referral as part of a plan to boost survival rates and improve treatment for those affected by the disease.

We have been fighting on this issue in Merton and will continue to do so. In July 2022, councillors backed our proposal requiring Merton Council to put a plan in place within a year to improve cancer screening rates locally. They have recently done this, including pushing the NHS for an additional breast cancer screening site.

Our relationship with Europe

I was delighted to hear Lib Dem Foreign Affairs spokesperson Layla Moran confirm the party’s long term policy is to rejoin the EU when the time is right, the country is ready and the terms are acceptable. This will not be an easy task and, as Lib Dem Leader Ed Davey made clear in press interviews, the matter is currently not on the table as the EU will not accept our return until we have healed the discord at home.

However in a rousing section of his leader’s speech, Ed Davey underlined how only the Lib Dems have a genuine plan to fix the issues in a thoroughly rotten Brexit deal that both the Conservative and Labour parties voted for in Parliament. Our four stage plan to join the Single Market is the only feasible way to meaningfully improve on that deal.

Fighting for our environment

It was great to see plans to tackly the climate emergency front and centre at the Conference. We have committed to invest significantly in renewable power (page 15)  so that 80% of the UK’s electricity is generated from renewables by 2030 and have put forward new plans  to mandate major infrastructure upgrades to the sewage system.

We have also also adopted a policy to create a ‘blue corridor’ programme for rivers, streams and lakes to ensure clean healthy water – something we pushed Merton Council to introduce in July (see page 3 of this document – unfortunately blocked by Labour councillors).

Restoring trust in community policing

I was delighted that our policing policy Protecting our Neighborhoods – A return to Community Policing passed unanimously. As many of you know this is an issue close to my heart, and I was pleased to give the final speech advocating the proposals which will help restore communities to the heart of our policing and keep our streets safe.

This includes the creation of a proper national recruitment, training and retention strategy to tackle the shortage of detectives and urges the Home Secretary, the Mayor of London and the Metropolitan Police Commissioner to draw up an urgent plan to implement the recommendations of the Baroness Casey Review.

I also had the opportunity to hold a fringe meeting where I gave a presentation on Restorative Justice – a version of the talk I give the Parole Board each year. As many of you know, I was attacked in 2014 in my own home and had the opportunity to meet one of my attackers afterwards in prison – an event that was the start of my journey into frontline politics. This meeting was not filmed but if you are interested in learning more about the powerful impact that Restorative Justice can have, I did a podcast with the Forgiveness Project which touches on many of the issues. You can find it here.

Tackling the housing crisis – more, decent homes

I was pleased to see our policy Tackling the Housing Crisis pass, including a vital amendment on national housing targets. It will give more rights to tenants and focus on ensuring 150,000 new social homes are built a year and introduce binding targets for housing.

I was delighted that conference agreed a fairer deal for flat owners by resolving to replace long residential leaseholds with Commonhold, something I have been campaigning for locally and I know will make a big difference to many flat owners across Wimbledon, Raynes Park, Morden and the Maldens.

On the subject of more support for renters, this is something we have been pushing for a local level, where we have successfully convinced Merton’s Labour Council bosses to set up a Tenants’ Champion Service, to help renters in both the social and private rented sector get repairs done.

Ending Period Poverty

I was also pleased we have introduced a new policy, Ending Period Poverty, to place a duty on local authorities to make period products freely available in their buildings – something we achieved on Merton Council earlier this year.

A lot was discussed at the Liberal Democrat Conference that would really help ensure a fair deal for our area. Please do let me know if you have any questions.