Piers Merchant
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The extra-marital activities of Piers Merchant were not, in my opinion, the sum of the man, as your obituary (3 October) implied, writes Marilyn Duncombe. Mr Merchant was, in a short time, an exceptional local MP, and, I say this, as someone who has never voted Conservative. One of the first things he did when he was elected, was to send all the teenagers approaching the age of 18 a questionnaire, aiming to find out their views on various subjects. As a parent of two adolescents I found this impressive.
Mr Merchant was very supportive when I had a complaint against a local nursing home, who, I felt, had badly treated my father. My father was suffering from MID, which is similar to Alzheimer's disease. When, having hit a brick wall, I was close to giving up on my complaint, Mr Merchant encouraged me to continue and that led to Bromley Council making a rule that forced all nursing homes in the borough to state if they were willing or not to take in Alzheimer's patients.
I also understood that Mr Merchant was one of the very few MPs who had no outside interests (no directorships, etc), which surely was not a bad thing.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments