Archive for 'Blog'
Tessa Jowell MP: Labour councils and communities can work together in a new form of politics
In our new publication, Towards Co-operative Councils, Dame Tessa Jowell MP looks at the role of Labour parties and councillors in forging a new form of politics. “Community organising and co-operative councils are two ways that we can advance a new form of politics, rooted in people’s everyday lives and experiences.” The British people did not want [...]
Ed Miliband MP: Foreword for ‘Towards Co-operative Councils’
Rt Hon Ed Miliband MP wrote the foreword for our new document ‘Towards Co-operative Councils’. One Nation Labour means ensuring that every single person has a stake, that prosperity is fairly shared, and that we protect the institutions which express our common life as a nation. Ultimately, it is a vision of a country bound together, sharing a common purpose, and [...]
Steve Reed MP: Give people the power to live better lives
Labour & Co-operative MP Steve Reed, former Leader of Lambeth Council, introduces the new Co-operative Councils document, Towards co-operative councils:empowering people to change their lives. Public services are at a turning point. The money’s run out just as our ageing demographics and rising unemployment mean there is more demand for social support than ever before. We need to find ways [...]
Co-operative councils set out policy agenda
“A direct means to building One Nation”: Ed Miliband Download ‘Towards co-operative councils: empowering people to change their lives’ here The 21 leaders of Labour’s Co-operative Councils Network today set out their joint vision to “share power and decision-making more equally to achieve the best outcomes for citizens and their communities.” In a joint foreword [...]
Supporting Liverpool’s credit unions
Co-operative Party member and Liverpool City Council Cabinet member Cllr Nick Small reports on the Mayor of Liverpool’s £1m investment in credit unions. In May Joe Anderson was elected as Liverpool’s first City Mayor. One of his main pledges was to invest £1m in Liverpool’s credit unions to tackle legal loan sharking (£700,000 of the [...]
Cllr Tudor Evans: New co-operative option for Plymouth schools
As one of the first cities in the UK to form a co-operative society, Plymouth has a proud history in the co-operative movement. That proud history entered a new era in May when Labour took back control of the city council with a manifesto commitment to create a co-operative council. Straight away we got to [...]
Cllr Steve Reed: Cooperation must be at the heart of Labour’s renewal
Councils are already implementing a model that could revolutionise public services nationally. The next Labour government will face a double whammy of rising expectations, with less money for public services and welfare provision. If we want to protect people who rely most on public services, we will need to do differently with less. If we [...]
Cllr Tudor Evans: Co-operative vision can be achieved through hard work
When our special guest, Baroness Dean, launched the Plymouth Labour manifesto for us a month or so ago there was much excitement about plans to turn Plymouth City Council into a Co-operative Council. Championed by our friends in Lambeth and elsewhere we felt it was time that Plymouth, no stranger to co-operation, should embrace this [...]
Hilary Benn praises the innovation of the Co-operative Councils Network
New Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Hilary Benn MP is today attending the latest meeting of the Co-operative Councils network and praised the innovative work being undertaken by its 17 members. Labour’s Co-operative Councils are handing power to local people in a radical bid to improve public services and strengthen local [...]
Conference special: Why are Co-op councils important?
As the Co-operative Party meets in London for its annual conference, there are few areas that are creating more excitement within the movement than the co-operative councils agenda. There’s a genuine sense that local government is the perfect place to be putting co-operative values back into action. Back in July we launched our Co-operative Councils [...]
