Labour and the Co-operative Party are the true champions for co-ops

For almost 100 years Labour has worked in partnership with the Co-operative Party to achieve a more responsible form of capitalism, promoting democratic ownership as an alternative to shareholder ownership. Today, David Cameron announced that he too would like to see a more co-operative economy and society. Whilst his proposal for a Co-operatives Act to consolidate existing co-op legislation is welcome, but there was no mention of the fact that it was the Co-operative Party in partnership with Labour which secured the legislation that is to be consolidated. Nor was there any mention in his speech of new policies or proposals to boost the co-operative sector. Warm words are comforting to those of us who would like to see a bigger, stronger and more diverse co-operative sector in the UK, but warm words are not enough. It may be politically expedient for Cameron to stick his flag in co-op territory, especially given Ed Miliband’s leadership in calling first for a more moral capitalism, but can we trust the Tories to deliver?

We have been campaigning, along with Labour Co-operative MP Jonathan Reynolds, for co-operative housing tenure legislation. Johnny introduced a bill to Parliament last year which would update housing law to provide a level playing field for housing co-operatives. The bill received strong support from the Labour benches and from Co-operative Party members. If the government was serious about both tackling the housing crisis and promoting co-operatives, then surely they would look closely at Johnny and the Co-op Party’s proposals and get the bill into law as soon as possible.

Already there are reasons to doubt the government’s commitment to mutualism. The Co-operative Party campaigned for a mutual Northern Rock – the former building society which Thatcher’s government allowed to demutualise. Whilst Labour put a commitment to a mutual Northern Rock in their 2010 manifesto, the Tories ignored the calls of the Co-operative Party and co-operative sector and sold Northern Rock to Richard Branson. This wasted opportunity to translate the Tories rhetoric about mutualism into reality is a warning.

Whilst we are pleased that co-operatives are on the agenda for all political parties we shouldn’t forget that it is Labour that has consistently stood behind the co-operative movement, or indeed the shared heritage of the Co-operative Party and Labour Party. Together we have developed co-operative policies that are making a real difference to people’s lives on mutual finance, football supporters’ trusts, co-operative schools, co-operative sure start and of course the legislation that is going into the new consolidated co-ops act. If a new direction for the Tories on ‘responsible capitalism’ has been signalled today then we look forward to seeing concrete proposals to boost co-operatives across the economy and society and put people before profit.

Pete Jeffreys is the Policy and Campaigns Officer of the Co-operative Party