Labour has a “once in a generation opportunity” to build the co-op sector and make the most of its potential.
That was the message from Co-operative Party general secretary, Joe Fortune, as he addressed a packed conference hall in Liverpool in September.
He urged the new government to ensure it delivered on its manifesto commitment to double the size of the co-operative and mutual sector – with the help of the record number of 43 Labour/Co-operative MPs elected in July.
“We have more Co-operative Cabinet Ministers than the last 70 years put together and co-operators with ministerial desks in nine government departments. They are armed with the strongest set of co-operative commitments a Labour government has ever had. Work is already underway to deliver manifesto commitments to double the size of the co-operative and mutual sector, deliver the biggest expansion of community-owned energy in history, create a new ‘community right to buy’ and deliver on one of our movement’s priorities, to tackle retail crime once and for all.”
Fortune said it was now time to be ambitious and shift power permanently into the hands of local people, allowing them to own more assets to build genuine community power and diverse ownership in the economy.
“I believe our co-operative ideas have so much more to offer. I look forward to our Party pushing forward into new areas of campaigning – whether that be housing, social care, early years and more besides.”
Welcoming Labour’s pledged commitment, he stressed there was still a need to ensure the co-op sector achieved its full potential.
“In recent times we have seen a financial crisis, a housing crisis, an energy crisis, a pandemic, a summer of riots. After each, we say to one and other, ‘surely there is a co-operative, community answer?’ We have one, it already exists, it just needs proper support.
“We have strong co-operatives in many sectors of the economy, employing tens of thousands, with millions of members that generate billions of pounds. But if co-ops own nearly 50% of agricultural land in the US, turning over 50% more than the NHS budget, if co-ops produce most of the milk and sugar in India and own two thirds of the famed German banking sector, then maybe they’re onto something. And maybe we need to take another look at that model – the one pioneered right here – and make sure we are making the most of it.
Referencing the Rochdale Pioneers, he said it was “not inevitable: that 28 working people who wanted to eat non-contaminated food at a price they could afford would go on to pave the way for a global movement encompassing over a billion people.
“We developed a way of doing business which is fairer, more productive and more long lasting and exported it around the world. We now have the opportunity to leave a much stronger co-operative sector. Stronger communities who have genuine stake in what they value. A more economically empowered society ready to face the future. We look forward to working with you to build something that no-one can ever take away.”
Related: Labour Conference explores ways to double the co-op economy
Meanwhile, Rachel Reeves promised ‘no return to austerity’ in her first major speech as chancellor to the Labour Conference.
Despite Labour’s recent emphasis on the need to plug a £22bn “black hole in funding left by the Tories,” she pledged to rebuild the country as work began to ensure economic stability.
“Stability is the crucial foundation on which all our ambitions will be built. I can see the prize on offer. If we make the right choices now.”
The chancellor said: “Conservative austerity was a destructive choice for our public services and for investment and growth too. Yes, we must deal with the Tory legacy and that means tough decisions but I won’t let that dim our ambition for Britain. So it will be a budget with real ambition, a budget to fix the foundations, a budget to deliver the change that we promised, a budget to rebuild Britain.”
Reeves, who has previously supported the pledge to double the size of the co-operative economy, promised to aid economic recovery by cracking down on tax avoidance and tax evasion – strengthening the powers of HMRC and recruiting 5,000 new tax compliance officers.
Non-dom tax loopholes will also end and the money used to help the government deliver on its manifesto commitment to roll out free breakfast clubs in all schools in England next year.
She announced the plan to tackle child hunger will kick off in 750 primary schools in April 2025. The £7m pilot will be followed with a national roll out in September.
Reeves said the scheme – estimated to cost some £365m was “an investment in our young people, an investment in reducing child poverty and investment in our economy”.
The chancellor also revealed that Labour will appoint a Covid Corruption Commissioner to target “rip-off artists and fraudsters”.
“It could not be more urgent,” she said. “And I have put a block on any contract being abandoned or waived until it has been independently assessed by that Commissioner.”
“I won’t turn a blind eye to those who used a national emergency to line their own pockets. I won’t let them get away with it. That money belongs in our police, it belongs in our health service, and it belongs in our schools.”
During her speech, Reeves confirmed the government will introduce VAT on private school fees. She also defended the decision to cut the £300 winter fuel payment for millions of pensioners – a decision which later in the week was opposed by Conference which backed a resolution from UNITE calling for a U-turn on the controversial measure.
“I know that not everyone – in this hall, or in the country – will agree with every decision I make however I will not duck those decisions for political expediency or advantage.”
“Faced with that £22bn black hole [and] with the triple lock ensuring that the state pension will rise by an estimated £1,700 over the course of this Parliament, I judged it the right decision in the circumstances we inherited.”
The forthcoming budget in October, she said, would be “a budget for economic growth”.
“Growth is the challenge and investment is the solution. Investment in new industries, new technologies and new infrastructure. This is how we will achieve what we promised – the five missions that will comprise a decade of national renewal. That is the Britain we’re building. That is the Britain I believe in.”
