Your voting service in the March 1 edition regarding banners in the council chamber is misleading - it says "the Mayor has banned banners". This is not true; it is the leader of the Conservative administration, Councillor David Williams, who has made this decision, not me.
At the meeting in question, I was asked if I wanted the protesters to be requested to lower the banners, to which I agreed, although I said at the time that they were not causing me any concern as they were not disrupting the meeting.
What happened subsequently was not ordered by me. In last week's Post, Councillor Williams states quite clearly he had taken the decision to ban banners/ placards inside the council chamber, yet in last week's Guardian he is reported as saying "But it is the mayor who runs the meetings and it's in her hands". In my hands to do what?
I repeat, as long as they are not disturbing the meeting, I have no objection to people protesting peacefully.
COUNCILLOR GERALDINE STANFORD Mayor of Merton
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