The Co-operative Party is part of the global co-operative movement. We work with the Labour Party in the UK to influence its policies towards more co-operative solutions.
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European Socialists pledge to support co-ops
In the manifesto launched today by the Party of European Socialists, there are specific commitments to the mutual sector: "We will... support the development of the social economy in Europe, which currently employs over 5 million people in cooperatives for example – by introducing a European statute for associations, mutual societies and foundations."
Having been written in a novel, collaborative manner, there's plenty of strong stuff in the manifesto - smarter jobs, a social Europe, taking on the challenge of climate change, fighting for peace. And the choice will be clear in 2009:
For the past five years, the conservatives have had a majority in Europe - in most EU Member States and in the EU institutions. What have they done with it? Did they tackle the global financial crisis? Did they address rising food and energy prices? Have they fought poverty and inequalities? Is society fairer than it was five years ago? Did they support our initiatives to deliver more and better jobs? They follow the market. We follow our convictions.
The conservatives often talk about economic and social crises as if they are unavoidable, a law of nature. But there is nothing inevitable about them. It is about political choices. While we do live in a time of global change and risk, we also live in a time of huge opportunity. We must promote better cooperation in Europe to manage globalisation for the benefit of everyone. They say adapt to the market. We say shape our future.
We will work together for a fairer, safer and greener Europe. Together we are a force for change.
We can build a fairer society by putting people first. Let’s take Europe in a new direction in June 2009.
Good idea - and remember, the debates on Co-operative policies for the next general election continue at www.co-operativemanifesto.org.
Progress on a co-operative consensus
A mention in comments of Alan Milburn's vision of public services provokes thoughts of Progress' conference which took place last weekend. Well-organised, friendly and forward-looking, it was a positive event given a great boost by the opening speech by the Prime Minister and a candid conversation between Lord Mandelson and Martin Kettle.
Alan Milburn did make an appearance, part of a panel alongside Liam Byrne considering public service reform. Here the talk was of putting patients and staff in control, personalisation and co-production. Some of the means suggested were a little too focused on (only) individual choice for my liking - Nita Clarke and Robert Hill were particularly challenging on the use of competition and choice between service providers (rather than within a service, to 'personalise'). But the point - that as increases in spending start to slow, reform cannot - was well made.
All of this led to a cracking final plenary from a co-op perspective. Steve Richards chaired a panel including the historian Tristram Hunt, Hazel Blears and Charles Clarke, Martin Bright of the New Statesman and Brendan Barber of the TUC, considering the future of the Left. Following some useful talk about the 'Active State' by Charles and Brendan, Tristram and Hazel got everyone going with a vision for the Left based on co-operative and mutual principles. Tristram Hunt put this in a historical perspective - co-operation is the base of British socialism, and its future. Hazel continued the theme in her usual bright and positive manner. There followed a bidding war, as members of the audience rose to push the co-operative agenda and challenged those panellists who saw a greater role for the state to make clear their commitments to co-ops too. And in turn Charles, Brendan and Martin fell over themselves to jump on the co-operative bandwagon. Clarke cited over 20 years of active support for mutuals and Bright mentioned the article he wrote a year ago musing on co-operativism being a basis of Gordon Brown's vision.
A good day all round - including several new members at the Co-op Party stall. Well done to Mark, Jessica, Robert and their team.
Woolies - a workers' co-op?
Ardeshir Naghshineh, millionnaire owner of Centre Point, is trying to line up an employee-owned bid for Woolworths, according to the Sunday Times. It's an interesting development, although it's frustrating that these ideas always arise when a company is doing badly. Why can't we hand Walmart to the workers, not just Woolies?
But it could work - Tower Colliery was born out of troubled beginnings after all. Actually the Employee Ownership Association has just published a big report pointing out that employee ownership isn't just good for the high street, it could improve our public services too. As outlined in the Guardian last week, "The most important strength of co-owned organisations is their open, egalitarian culture, which encourages the lateral communication that allows people to combine their ideas easily, seek partnership with customers, and mobilises the 'can-do' commitment needed to turn ideas into action. Staff in these organisations, because they are co-owners of the business and so have more freedom to respond, often speak of "going the extra mile" for consumers."
These type of organisations are already running services - Greenwich Leisure and Sunderland Home Care not least. They provide a real alternative model to the Capita's and the Serco's: one which could be rooted in communities, involve their workers and above all provide quality of service for best value. "As politicians cast about for new recipes for less bureaucratic, more localised, personalised approaches, co-owned public service organisations should be part of that mix because they do something really potent: they motivate frontline staff to want to deliver a better service."
In the Independent, Margareta Pagano calls for a 'social capitalism' where workers take advantage of low share prices to buy equity and make the stock exchange more equitable (and support co-ops too):
It is counter-intuitive but with the stock market at rock bottom, this is a great moment for the British worker to swap being a wage slave for owning shares through employee share schemes or investing on the stock market. Taking part in co-operatives or partnerships could be explored too. It's not just serendipity that The John Lewis Partnership, where all staff share in profits and bonuses, is one of our most inspiring, successful companies. How fascinating that one of the bidders trying to rescue Woolworths wants to turn it into an employee-owned business too. The timing is brilliant.
Parliament considers remutualisation of failed banks
Following our call for the former building societies now in state hands to be remutualised, Parliament considered an amendment to the Banking Bill led by Labour Co-op MPs to facilitate exactly that reconversion. David Taylor and Adrian Bailey both spoke eloquently on the benefits of mutual organisations in the debate - a particularly strong passage by David Taylor is reproduced below.
The minister, Ian Pearson, responded positively in terms of the proposal but suggested that legislative changes aren't necessary. "The powers are already there," he said. Anyway, here's David Taylor's contribution:
I would like to see an opportunity for re-mutualisation. Mutual savings organisations are owned by their members. Members have a vote, and so a voice, in decision making. The company is incentivised to work for the interests of its members, not its shareholders, and still less its financiers. We must not forget that mutuals can often offer better savings and borrowing rates. They are an investment for the long term. They offer security and dependability.
According to two independent surveys in the late 1990s, mutual building societies consistently offered the best loans over a variety of payment periods. The surveys found that nine of the 10 cheapest lenders in the UK were mutuals. Another survey shows that the cheapest 30 lenders throughout the 1990s, and the 10-year period in question, were all building societies. There is evidence, cited in the paper that I mentioned, that demutualisation exacerbates financial exclusion. The total number of building societies has fallen from more than 200 to fewer than 60 in the past 25 years. Financial institutions were merged or taken over, and their branches rationalised in the drive for efficiency.
The recognisable, reliable and—above all—reachable branches that served many of the poorest and most vulnerable in communities across the country, including in North-West Leicestershire, have disappeared in the stampede towards petty pecuniary advantage. That was not just morally wrong, but largely mistaken. Work done during the height of the fad for demutualisation showed that building societies have tended to operate with greater efficiency and higher and less volatile profitability than commercial banks. It is surely no coincidence that credit unions have increasingly filled the gap left by the evisceration of mutual institutions.
The need for stable, low-interest loans never went away, even during Labour’s years of record economic growth and reinvestment in infrastructure and public services. The reach of mutuals is still short, however, and the respite that they provide to struggling families will be stretched in what will no doubt be a discontented winter.
Conference-going co-operators spoilt for choice
There are two major events in the co-op and mutual sector happening in London this week - on the same day.
Hazel Blears is the keynote speaker at the first ever Mutuals Forum, organised by Mutuo, bringing together experts from across the mutual sector for the first time. Taking place at the Emirates Stadium on 4 December, there will be speakers from building societies, the Co-operative Group, supporters' trusts and foundation trusts, plus a parliamentary panel drawn from both sides of Parliament. It's a long-needed forum for the mutual sector to come together, and it's great to see the new mutuals like FTs being part of the event.
Down the road at the British Library, Peter Marks of the Co-op will be one of the speakers at the Fair and Square Conference on Ethical Shopping. Organised by the Co-operative College, the event will examine the extent to which consumers’ concerns over the ethical production of their food have impacted on commercial practices with experts from the NFU and the Soil Association, academics and producers from developing countries.
Calon Wen, a co-op of 20 farmers in Carmarthenshire, won Best Food Producer for the quality of its organic milk. It is the first dairy in the UK to achieve the Soil Association’s Ethical Trade Symbol. And Unicorn Grocery of Chorlton in Manchester was joint winner of Best Local Food Retailer. Unicorn is a workers' co-op selling wholefood and is a beacon of the movement as well as promoting sustainable and healthy food. It has now moved into growing its own food and employs 50 co-workers - large for a workers' co-op.
The Co-op itself was the only high street name on the shortlist, nominated for its chicken welfare scheme, which has seen all Co-op own-brand chicken and eggs sourced from the UK to the higher 'Elmwood' animal welfare scheme. This scheme was one of those cited by the RSPCA when awarding the Co-operative with its Lifetime Achievement Award last month.
New blog at Supporters Direct
Our friends over at Supporters Direct are launching a blog on their website at www.supporters-direct.org/blog. Join the debate on the latest issues facing football and rugby supporters.
Here we (don't) go again
Despite all the warm words from Network Rail about listening to customers in response to our People's Rail campaign and the criticism of the Transport Select Committee, passengers are set to face another winter of misery on the trains. There will be no trains on Christmas Day, few on Boxing Day and a reduced service - for some reduced to no service at all - around the country right through into the New Year.
Of course it's clear that there are essential engineering works to be made, and the relatively lower use period of Christmas and the New Year may be a good time to clear the backlog. But, after last year's chaos, it's understandable that the public will have little confidence that the upgrades will be completed on time or that information will be forthcoming. Bunching all the major repairs into one period maximises the chances of overruns and the domino effect that follows. It's the very period when train operators and the public find it hardest to receive and respond to information. Whole lines are closed for long periods, when it would be possible to keep people moving, by rail, whilst repairs are continuing.
Meanwhile it comes to light that the Chief Executive of Network Rail, Iain Coucher, is the highest paid public servant, pocketing a whopping £1.2 million, up from £823,000 last year. According to The Times, this includes an annual bonus of £306,000, a longer-term incentive payment of £205,000, a pension contribution of £169,000 and benefits of £25,000, including life insurance cover. He gets a chauffeur-driven Lexus hybrid car to help to travel between London and his Northamptonshire, presumably so he can minimise the time he spends on overcrowded and delayed trains. The rail union, the TSSA, is furious: executive pay goes up while Network Rail is fined for failure.
And Network Rail's response to these claims of 'fat cats'? They tell us that Coucher shouldn't be regarded as a public servant at all and this money shouldn't be seen as taxpayers' money. It's not surprising when executive remuneration is set by people appointed by those accountable only to the executive themselves.
So it's clear that the lessons are not being learnt by Network Rail management. The need for a People's Rail, responsive to the needs of its passengers, not its executives, is as great as ever.
Pre Budget Report rewards savers
While Cameron pursues his whodunnits and his do-nothings, Mutual Money reports on more real substance arising from the Pre Budget Report this week. The Savings Gateway Scheme that matches every £1 saved by those on low incomes with 50p is to be expanded, presenting a real opportunity for credit unions. It's an important scheme worth promoting.
Just in time for Christmas...
Amid gloom from the high street (and the out-of-town retail park), good news again from The Co-operative Group. £8.9 million has been distributed to its members as this year's dividend, £2 million more than last year, with half a million going to good causes. And those good causes are themselves determined by the members - over 20,000 have so far answered the call to take part in the Co-op's consultation on community issues. Operating profits are up over 35% and there's a surge in positive recognition of the co-operative difference.
The Group's marketing man Patrick Allen puts the credit crunch in context: "As a co-operative organisation it is our members who benefit from our financial achievements and no faceless City traders can speculate on our business."
Of all the numerous and painful lessons of the recent collapse in the financial markets, one has been conspicuously missing from the flood of media analysis and commentary.
Bradford & Bingley's taxpayer-funded rescue ended all arguments about the potential benefits of demutualisation. As the last of the ex-building societies loses its independence, it joins other recent arrivals such as Northern Rock and Halifax as the latest addition to this run of corporate failure.
When the last Conservative government encouraged societies to demutualise through the 1986 Building Societies Act, it plundered generations of assets from mutual societies, replacing prudent mortgage providers with some of the worst culprits of casino capitalism.
Today we have a unique and unmissable opportunity to put that right. By recognising the enormous benefits of mutuality and taking action to allow societies to remutualise, we can return those institutions to their rightful position and bring stability and sustainability to the important work they can do for our economy and the millions of Britons who rely on them.
Cooperatives and mutual financial organisations differ from their plc competitors in one crucial respect: they exist to provide mutual self-help for their members rather than to generate profits for investors. These core values drive high standards of behaviour throughout the sector. The absence of external shareholders means there are no conflicts of interest between the claims of consumers and owners, leaving mutuals no incentive to exploit their customers for short-term gain.
In addition, the fact that these organisations operate democratic voting systems, on a one member one vote basis, allows them to take a long-term view of their members' interests. As we collectively count the costs of our financial institutions' previous short-term thinking, this approach to business should unquestionably be the future direction that we are looking for.
A starting point will be the future of Northern Rock and Bradford & Bingley. While the government was absolutely right to nationalise these as a short-term measure, any long-term solution for these companies should be based on some key principles.
• Taxpayers must not be out of pocket as a result of the change.
• Hard-working families and small businesses must be protected. This means the housing market should not be closed to first-time buyers, credit lines to small business should be extended and repossessions should only occur as a last resort.
• The institutions that emerge must be secure, responsible and add to the financial stability of the UK economy.
• And finally, these new organisations must continue to act in the long-term interests of their consumers.
That is why the Co-operative Party is calling for the newly nationalised banks to be converted into mutuals. Mutual ownership is the best solution for ensuring a stable long-term future for these companies, and making sure that the risk taken by taxpayers will deliver for consumers in the long-term.
Building societies were founded with one purpose in mind – that of building houses for hard-working families and providing a safe place for them to deposit their savings. It is only fitting that the chief purpose of these businesses should be to do the same, particularly at a time when people are anxious about the security of their savings and will find it increasingly hard to get on the housing ladder.
This could be achieved in two ways. The government could give existing financial mutuals the right of first refusal when it decides to put the institutions it nationalised up for sale. This would maximise the opportunity for a strengthening of the existing mutual sector and help ensure a stability and continuity in the market.
Alternatively, the government could consolidate Northern Rock and its holding in Bradford & Bingley into one institution. When all debts are paid back, the institution could be converted into a building society. This should be straightforward, as the government already owns the share capital. The new body would operate in the same manner as any other building society.
Regardless of which option is chosen, the opportunity is there to rectify the mistakes of the past and deal with one of the major economic and social challenges of our time.
Social Enterprise Day
Happy Social Enterprise Day 2008. Today social enterprises will be celebrating their success and promoting social entrepreneurship to young people. Among today's events are the launch of the One Water Project which asks young people to think of new ways of selling ethical water brand One Water (check out the interactive game on the site). The Social Enterprise Coalition will be announcing the results of its photography competition, on the theme of transforming lives.
There are 55,000 social enterprises in the UK with a combined turnover of £27 billion. Social enterprises account for 5% of all businesses with employees and contribute £8.4 billion per year to the UK economy . From social care to community cohesion and renewable energy to recycling and fair trade, social enterprises can take the lead on tackling 21st century issues.
Social Enterprise Day is part of Make Your Mark: Change Lives, a campaign to inspire young people to use enterprising ideas for social and environmental change. The following is the Make Your Mark video, Trailblazers, with stories of young people making a difference.
150th anniversary of Robert Owen
Today marks the 150th anniversary of the death of Robert Owen, co-operative pioneer. As mentioned before, there have been a series of events marking the anniversary through the year.
Owen's ideas were a response to the revolutionary times he lived in - the Enlightenment, land reform, industrialisation, mass labour, urbanisation. The Industrial Revolution posed great challenges as well as creating great opportunities. Co-operative principles were needed alongside government reform - reforms that are still in progress - to create a fairer society as well as a more prosperous one.
The times we live in now may turn out to be as momentous. The global economic crisis and banking collapse, the rise of China and its many internal changes, the threat to the planet. Again we need new ideas; the time is ripe for more visionaries like Robert Owen. He too was an internationalist, taking his vision to New Harmony, Indiana. The election of Barack Obama may point to the fact that the world is ready for great thinkers and big ideas.
The Co-op News points out that, although Owen was a celebrity in his day, he has been overlooked today, with scarcely a mention in the press or the endless 100 Great Britons type TV shows. But his ideas and ideals live on.
Particularly helpful was this contribution in Thursday's debate by Kerry McCarthy MP (Bristol East, Labour):
I too welcome this announcement very much, as will the hundreds of my constituents who have written to me about it. I chair the all-party group on credit unions, and I have just written to Lord Mandelson to see whether we can explore how credits unions can use the Post Office network to make their services more available, especially to people in remote areas. Will he undertake to talk to Lord Mandelson to see how we can move those issues forward?
In response, James Purnell (Secretary of State, Department for Work and Pensions) commented:
Yes, that is a very important point. The Post Office's reach is clearly wider than that of credit unions, even after their growth under this Government. My hon. Friend is right that credit unions play a vital part in providing the services and advice that help people to get out of debt and improve their financial affairs. I have seen very clearly how credit unions in my constituency have literally turned around the lives of hundreds of my constituents. My ministerial colleague the Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, my hon. Friend Kitty Ussher, will be happy to meet my hon. Friend to discuss exactly how what she proposes can be done.
In her previous ministerial role, of course, Kitty was responsible for credit unions, so this is very welcome.
Top ten tips to beat the recession co-operatively
With all the talk of credit crunch and recession, ABCUL – the Association of British Credit Unions – has put together its Top Ten Tips for how a credit union can help in these tough times in the run-up to Christmas.
1. Flexible savings products – every penny counts and credit unions offer a wide range of flexible and accessible savings accounts. Unlike some other savings schemes, you can save as much or as little as you like and as often as you wish. You can pay in at local shops and collection points, or direct from your wages which is pain-free and convenient. Even saving a small amount each week soon mounts up.
2. Lower cost loans – if you need to borrow some money to get you through, then credit unions offer some of the best deals around. Many credit union loans cost no more than 1% a month on the reducing balance of a loan (APR of 12.7%). There are no penalties for repaying a loan from a credit union early and borrowers only pay interest for the amount of time they've had the money.
3. Credit Union Current Account – offers a debit card which can be used in shops and to withdraw money from cash machines, and account holders can set up standing orders and direct debits, which can save money when paying utility bills, for example. Charges are upfront and transparent, and there are no overdraft facilities, meaning people are less likely to get into trouble financially. The current account will be available in 18 credit unions by the end of the year.
4. The Argos Acard – many ABCUL credit unions offer the Argos Acard, an exclusive payment card that can be topped up from a credit union member's savings, or a loan, and spent at Argos and Homebase stores. Every time a member tops up their Acard, Argos add another 5% to the value, so if you put £300 on the card from a credit union loan, Argos will add another £15.
5. Christmas Savings Club – a safe way to save for the most expensive time of year. Make regular deposits and get a lump sum in time to do your Xmas shopping – a valuable alternative to voucher saving schemes, particularly in light of the Farepak collapse.
6. Mortgages – A couple of the bigger credit unions now offer highly competitive fixed rate and variable rate mortgages. With access to mortgage funding from banks getting harder and harder to come by, a credit union might have the solution you need.
7. Life insurance – built in at no extra cost when you take out a credit union product. This means that savings can be as much as doubled, or loans written off, in the event of a member’s death.
8. Money management advice – many credit unions offer free money advice and useful information on how best to manage your finances. Don’t put your head in the sand – drop into a credit union and get some help.
9. Financial Services Compensation Scheme – credit unions offer the back up of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) so the first £50,000 of your money is completely protected.
10. They’re local and owned by you, the customer!
So when the recession starts to bite, head down to your local credit union and see what they can do for you…
Tories' answer to Network Rail issue: more of the same
The Conservatives have finally made public their policy on the issue of Network Rail's governance. Months after we launched the People's Rail and the Transport Select Committee published their analysis, Theresa Villiers got round to telling the Times what her big answer is. She recognises the inappropriateness of the executive bonuses in the year of record fines for poor performance. She recognises that there has been poor performance. And she recognises that the current way of appointing members is unaccountable. "We need a body to which Network Rail is accountable, smaller and more streamlined, and with a much stronger focus on passenger concerns," she says. Which is what we said, months ago.
She may have worked out the problems, but her proposals are all wrong. At the moment, the members of Network Rail look just like the board members who picked them - City types, middle aged white men. Yet these people are meant to be a public voice. But what does Theresa want? "Independent people with heavyweight, serious experience in business." So more of the same. How will more retired City executives be more representative of passengers, better focus on their concerns? We have proposed public members who are actually accountable to taxpayers and passengers.
The People's Post Office yes. But a People's Bank?
Today, in its decision to allow the Post Office to continue the post office card account service, the Government recognised the role of local post offices in local economies, financial inclusion and community life. While this particular service may not be being provided on the most economically efficient basis (debatable), it is certainly the case that villages and high streets will be the more functional, competitive and efficient for this decision.
But it seems that along with this decision, there are moves towards a formal state-run bank provided through post offices. Lord Mandelson's letter earlier this week suggests that the Post Office expand its services, as a point of contact for government and providing financial services. It follows the suggestion by Jon Cruddas and also the New Economics Foundation of a nationalised banking service, a 'People's Bank' no less.
Whilst there's a case for looking to the existing network to see how essential services can be provided, it doesn't strike me as being efficient or necessary to create a whole new financial institution of dubious viability to prop up the Post Office. Millions fewer customers are visiting post offices every week as it is, moving to the internet and elsewhere for the many small transactions we used to go to post offices for.
But, you say, with the state now owning much of Northern Rock and Bradford and Bingley, there's already a state bank which can be better promoted through the post office network. The fact is that these facilities may be state-owned, but they're not run as public services. As Simon Jenkins pointed out in the Guardian last month, their workers are not civil servants and they remain players in the commercial competitive world. Pay to some top executives has gone up in nationalised Northern Rock.
And who do these banks now answer to? Shareholder-run businesses may be discredited but they're not dead. At least they answer to a collective of sorts. Now Northern Rock is operating to pay back its debts to the taxpayer and put the business on a sound footing. Fine. But that doesn't bring a more sympathetic service to the poorest or financially-excluded. On the contrary, in the newly nationalised system, it's more important to serve the Treasury's needs, avoid political embarrassment and recoup losses. Consumers are at the bottom of the pile. Since being taken into state ownership, Northern Rock's repossession rate has doubled, 50% over the industry average. Ministers say it's not their responsibility - they don't run the bank they say. Meanwhile the Co-operative Bank, owned by consumers - not the state, not shareholders - has repossessed just 11 properties so far in 2008.
And there's the rub. There are a whole series of 'People's Banks': building societies, the Co-op Bank and credit unions, owned by the people who put their savings in them, who borrow from them, who have the most stake in how they are run. They are answerable to their consumers, responsive to their concerns. Most importantly at this time, they're safe. No building society has gone under since World War II and the movement is looking after the most vulnerable without exposing savers and borrowers. And credit unions are there, often in remote, needy and financially excluded communities. Credit unions rely on bonds of community or workplace, which research detailed on today's You and Yours on Radio 4 suggesting that people feel greater pressure to pay back loans to mutuals than to anonymous City firms. Worryingly, a subsidised People's Bank might well take businesses away from the very people doing most to fight financial exclusion - the friendly societies offering child trust funds or small local credit unions.
A resurrected NS&I or Girobank taking on only the most risky customers or subsidised to compete with the high street isn't the answer here. The Post Office can help though. Improving access to all financial providers through local post offices would give communities access to the widest range of services, boosting competition. How about offering credit union members services such as deposits and withdrawals over the counter?
Tying local mutuals with local shops will boost community cohesion better than any bank run out of Whitehall. Time to back the existing People's Banks, not try and replace them.
News in briefs
Congratulations to our friends at Pants to Poverty, who make underwear from fair trade cotton, for their world record achieved today. They gathered together the largest number of people in their pants this morning at St Pancras station. 116 warm-hearted participants were lured out with free pants and a shot of whisky to deal with any cold, err, feet.
Divine glory
Divine Chocolate celebrates its 10th anniversary this year and is receiving quite a fanfare in the media. The Guardian has a collection of photos online to mark the event, and last weekend's Observer looks at how Divine has grown and what future lies ahead. It makes clear that the Co-op's decision to use Divine for all its own-brand chocolate was a major turning-point for the company, allowing it to invest in new products and markets.
And, as well as its US expansion, Divine would "like to develop more involvement for UK employees, John Lewis-style, to match initiatives to reinforce the functioning of the co-op ... to become a model for others to follow." From being a charitable company raising a few pennies for African farmers, Divine wants to be a better way of doing business and sharing profits around.
A co-operative manifesto
The Co-operative Party has launched a major consultation process on its manifesto for the next general election. Over the next nine months, the Party will be talking to members, local parties, experts and co-operative initiatives to get ideas to build a co-operative society and help Labour achieve a fourth term.
We are looking for great co-operative ideas to transform our public services and give the economy a much needed boost. Do you have ideas how patients, nurses and doctors can come together to provide primary care? Should passengers have a stronger voice in local transport services? How can we take up Andy Burnham's 'punter power' challenge to give fans more of a say in sporting and cultural events?
Various movements in the building society and credit union sector as the prevailing world view on the economy continues to be turned upside down. Skipton and Scarborough Building Societies are to merge, which, as Mutual Money notes, should be seen as consolidation of the sector and its inherent strength rather than any sign of imminent collapse. The new enlarged Skipton society will be one of the top 5 with close to 850,000 members, and no retreat from either Yorkshire base.
Elsewhere, as consumers find access to credit harder and the spectre of loan sharks and dubious consumer credit companies offering almost unaffordable rates, the BBC's Money Programme proposes credit unions as being an affordable alternative, with interest rates perhaps just one tenth of the equivalent doorstep companies. Watch it here for the next couple of days. Meanwhile Working Lunch reports on a new scheme to control and monitor loan sharks and their frequent links to criminal activities.
Tonight the Dons' "righteous indignation" pays off
AFC Wimbledon has become emblematic of the supporters' trust movement since 2002 when aggrieved fans of Wimbledon set up a new club in protest at the decision of their former club's directors to up sticks and move to Milton Keynes, now the MK Dons. Thanks to the efforts of thousands of fans and their small and large investments and donations, they have built a team, bought a ground and seen their club move up the divisions of non-league football. The Dons Trust is a thriving co-operative and an example to many in the national supporters' trust movement.
And tonight's FA Cup tie marks a new high in the history of the club. Not just in their history - it's an important moment for football too. As the Telegraph (!) notes, Wycombe tonight "will encounter something far less usual [than normal non-league opposition]: a cause. Their hosts, AFC Wimbledon, are not just a vibrant, upwardly mobile entity, they are a collective of righteous indignation."
That is possibly the best description of a co-op I have ever read.
Win or lose tonight (and it is worth bearing in mind that AFC Wimbledon's real goal is to return to the League), the match will make a stand for fans running football. Erik Samuelson, AFC's chief exec, puts it like this: "We don't live in the past. But you do feel the cause round the ground. What we are about is channelling the anger felt at betrayal into building something good, decent and proper in the right way."
