Ken Livingstone tackles Co-op questions

The Co-operative Party has asked both candidates for their views on co-operatives in London as part of the Mayoral selection. Ken Livingstone gives his response below, following Oona King’s responses earlier today.

1. The Co-operative Party is the sister party of the Labour Party with more than 7,000 members. What has been your formal involvement in the Co-operative Party and the broader co-operative movement?

My first period of involvement in the Co-operative Party was in the 1970s when I was a member in South London. We had a campaign to democratise the local co-operative movement in that part of London which I strongly supported. I’ve worked with the broader co-operative movement ever since, particularly in support of co-operative housing.

2. One of the stated objectives of the Co-operative Party is to promote co-operatives and all forms of mutual organisation. What specific actions have you taken in your political career to advance this objective?

I have supported numerous co-operative initiatives and I’m pleased to have backed related campaigns such as Fairtrade but I think the one I am most proud of in terms of its long term success and the impact on peoples’ lives was the support given to the Coin Street development on the South Bank , where – during my period as leader of the GLC – we were able back the work of the Coin Street Action Group, transforming the future of that part of the South Bank and providing co-operative housing for Londoners. My housing policies for 2012 restate this principle with a call for more use of housing co-operative models and more say for tenants.

3. The policies and resources of the Co-operative Party have historically been a great benefit to the Labour Party. If elected Mayor, what specific plans do you have to introduce co-operative policies?

I will work with London’s Co-operative Party to extend the principles of co-operation and mutualism and ensure that these are reflected in my manifesto for 2012.

Over the summer I published my paper on the challenges facing London in delivering affordable housing, which called for greater involvement of tenants and residents in running their homes, including doing far more to support mutual and co-operative models in the housing sector. I have set out proposals to learn from cities such as San Francisco in utilising smart technology to reduce congestion and help households cut their energy bills. The work that the co-operative movement has undertaken on open-source technology fits well with these ideas and I want to work with the co-operative movement to develop this work.

I will work with stakeholders including the trade unions and the co-operative movement on the development of taxi co-ops to ensure the cab trade is open to as many people as possible. To reduce carbon emissions and deliver cheaper energy bills I want to see more community-based and co-operative models in the delivery of our environmental policies.

My policy to protect local pubs argues that as Mayor I would work with local borough councils and lobby the government to support pubs which have a viable future to stay in business but in community ownership. This proposal was included Labour’s national election manifesto and should not be lost. The IPPR report ‘Pubs and Places: the social value of community pubs’ explains how pubs could be set up as Community Interest Companies. The advantage is that they would then be eligible for so-called ‘Third Sector’ grants and preferential financing. Unfortunately only this month the new government withdrew £3.3million Community-owned Pubs Support Programme which would have supported such schemes.

4. The relevance and importance of the Co-operative Party and its policies and campaigns have grown considerably in recent years. What are the major challenges facing the co-operative movement and how can they be addressed?

The Co-operative party did well to secure the election of nearly 30 MPs this year and the co-operative movement’s ideas were well represented in Labour’s manifesto. But I think the situation is generally going into reverse in terms of the new government’s agenda, with bad decisions on issues such as community pubs. That at least clarifies that the government’s talk of mutualism is not matched by its actions.

I think the changed political and economic situation provides an opening for co-operative ideas. As the Co-operative Party’s 2010 manifesto rightly put it:

“our economy and our society have undergone profound and unprecedented change in recent times. The major institutions of our financial system have been found wanting, at great cost to us all.”

We need a break with the Thatcher-Reagan model, not its revival. In those circumstances co-operation offers a key part of the alternative. It can play a role in preparing the agenda of the next four years, working with a new Labour leader and the shadow cabinet, to shape the alternative to the coalition. A period of opposition is unwelcome but we should use it to revitalise our ideas and policies.

5. Co-operative Party members want to play an active part in the future of the Labour Party. Why should members of the Co-operative Party vote for you as Mayor?

Co-op Party members start from the principles of working together for the common good. These basic ideas are under threat from the cuts and higher fares of Boris Johnson and the government. I am standing for Mayor for one overriding reason – to seek to protect Londoners from the effects of economic uncertainty and government cuts. Boris Johnson cannot escape the fact that the he has pioneered huge cuts in London and he vigorously campaigned for his Tory colleagues to win the general election, knowing full well the economic policy they would deliver and the damage they would do to policing and transport. The government’s cuts are his cuts.

If elected I will use every lever available to get the most for London. We can and must set a clear alternative in London to the renewed Thatcherism of the government. I will not defend government cuts but represent Londoners and stand up for the capital. Co-operative Party members and co-operative ideas will play a vital role in developing an alternative agenda in the coming months that helps us build a better London.