‘Once we give communities that power, it can’t just be taken away’: Rayner’s speech to the Co-op Party

Below is the full text of a speech delivered by Angela Rayner to the Co-operative Party showcase in Manchester this afternoon.

Friends, it’s a privilege to be here in Co-op HQ, a co-op building in a co-op city, to celebrate a historic year for our co-op movement.

It is thanks to this movement, and the hard work of people in this room over many years, that we now have co-operators not only in Westminster, but in council chambers, town halls and parliaments across the UK.

1 in 4 elected representatives now wears a co-operative badge – and that is something you should all be so proud of. Some of those new MPs, councillors, mayors and police and crime commissioners are here today – congratulations to you all.

And I want to thank you all too for everything you did to help put the Ministers who are here today in office. It is such an honour to stand here as your Deputy Prime Minister, part of a Labour government that made a promise this summer to improve the lives of working people.

I know nothing we go on to do in government would be possible without our movement.

Ours is a movement made up of the most dedicated activists you’ll ever know. The people who work all week and still give up their weekends to knocking doors in the pouring rain. The trade unions who go into workplaces and talk to their members about why their lives will be better with Labour. The members who give up their homes, their kettles and snack supplies on polling day.

None of this would be possible without you all, so thank you.

As a Greater Manchester MP and a Co-op Party member, I am proud that our movement has its roots right here. We all know the story – just a stone’s throw from here, a group of labourers saw their community falling into poverty, unable to buy food that wasn’t contaminated, and decided to do something about it.

They pioneered a co-operative model that has been exported around the world. But it started right here, with those working people who changed commerce forever.

Friends, we know that co-ops do business differently. The evidence speaks for itself – businesses owned and operated by members are more resilient, including when times are tough. They’re more long-lasting, more likely to weather the storms the economy throws at them.

And they’re fairer, because they’re made by the people closest to the business, the people who understand it best. But the model isn’t just good for business, it’s good for workers too.

It’s always a pleasure to come to Angel Square – last time I was here was to launch our manifesto, and what a journey we’ve been on since. This is a building that has always done business differently, and no one knows that better than its employees.

Back in the early 1900s, the Co-operative Wholesale Society at Crumpsall – just three miles away from here – was the first biscuit factory in the UK to introduce a thirty eight-hour week for its employees. Later, it was the Co-op who introduced a Minimum Wage.

And today, the Co-op continues to lead the way. Just this week, I launched our plan to Make Work Pay at a Co-op depot with my friend Jonathan Reynolds – our first ever Labour and Co-operative Business Secretary.

We spoke to Co-op colleagues there who told us they already benefit from strong maternity rights, non-exploitative contracts, and proper pay. Treating your workforce fairly and being a business giant is not an either-or. The Co-op is proving you can do both.

Now we want to take that model – of decent, secure work – right across the country.  Because, let’s be clear, working people have had to wait too long for change. Over decades in places like the one I grew up in, the good, secure jobs our parents and grandparents could build a life on were replaced by low pay and insecure work.

That has held back communities, held back business and held back our economy.  This week we can say that we have started to turn the tide. With the biggest expansion of workers’ rights in a generation. Our plan will introduce basic rights from day one on the job.  Sick pay for the lowest earners. It will repeal the Tories’ anti-worker laws and give trade unionists the rights they need to protect their members. End exploitative zero hour contracts. Tackle fire and rehire, and fire and replace.

And yes colleagues it will mean a genuine living wage you can build a future on. In total more than ten million workers will benefit from Labour’s plan in every corner of this country. And let’s be clear – strengthening workers’ rights is not at odds with our mission for growth.

Workers who are treated fairly are more productive and better for business – again, that’s something the people in this building understand. Ours is a pro business, pro worker government. And we will never be ashamed of that.

Growth will always be at the centre of our government’s plans, because we know it’s the only way to deliver lasting prosperity for working people.But our Plan to Make Work Pay is fundamentally about giving people more control over their working lives.

Creating workplaces that are fit for the 21st century, finally making work pay. And that’s not the beginning and end of this government’s plans to give people back control over their lives. For too long we’ve had an economy that hoards potential and a politics that hoards power. We have to change that.

During the election campaign, I took my battle bus to towns and cities in every corner of this country. And what I found were communities that are fiercely proud. Proud of their football, rugby league, boxing clubs. Proud of their community gardens and green spaces. Proud of their local businesses – their cafes, shops and pubs, businesses that have faced down and survived the toughest economic times most of us can remember.

But over the last fourteen years those communities have been hollowed out.  The spaces and services that people rely on – their local library, swimming pool, post office, high street bank – so many of these crucial assets have just disappeared. Friends, I understand how important these spaces are.

Growing up, the youth club on a Friday night gave me somewhere to go, with youth workers I could trust. The sure start centre gave me a place to meet other young mums and learn how to look after my baby. I understand the power of having a place to go, and I know how hard it is when that place isn’t there.

And if you want any more proof of just how valued these assets are, look to the library in Liverpool, torched by far-right thugs this summer. A fundraiser – with a target of £500 – ended up raising a quarter of a million pounds to restore the library.

Local people, horrified by what had happened to their community space, came together to bring it back to life. And they weren’t the only community to step up in the wake of this summer’s riots.

Across the country, we saw communities coming together to clean up the mess, rebuild broken walls, repaint vandalised shops. That’s the power of communities. Local people protecting and supporting each other, in small and simple ways, at a time of crisis.

Our movement understands that. It’s why we want to go further, give communities more power so that can be stronger and more resilient. Those building blocks that make up a community, those spaces that local people love and value.

This Labour government will make it easier for communities to own those assets. I now have two Cooperative MPs in my team. So I know the Co-operative Party has been campaigning on this for years.

And as the Secretary of State with responsibility for communities, I am proud to say we’ve listened. We will deliver a Community Right to Buy, to make sure that when a treasured community asset is sold, the community has the first opportunity to decide what happens to it.

If we get this right, the opportunity is huge. We want part of this government’s legacy to be thriving high streets, busy town centres, happy and hopeful communities.

Towns and cities where local people who want to see a music concert, go to the pub, play outside with their families, have a place to go and do it.

And we hope that far more of those spaces will be community-owned, and that any community who wants to run an asset for the community has the best possible chance to do it. Crucially friends, once we give communities that power, it can’t just be taken away. Those assets belong to the community, their fate is in the community’s hands. They can’t just be taken away.

At its heart, community ownership brings people together. Communities who own things are more connected, they share responsibility for the most important assets. They make decisions together, they are rooted in their local places.

That’s what Labour in power must deliver. None of this is easy. There is a long road ahead and lots of work to do.

But for those who say all politicians are the same, it doesn’t matter the colour of the rosette…. Just look at our agenda. Look at what we are delivering…Look at what we can do when we come together…

The biggest expansion of workers’ rights in a generation. A genuine living wage. More power and control for local communities. The Renters Reform Bill – stopping no fault evictions. Buses back in public hands.  The railways on track to public ownership. Great British Energy – launched. New homes across the country.

Friends, that is why we fought so hard.  That’s what all the campaigning was for.  That’s what change means. A government back in the service of working people. Friends, I want to thank you for your support. We will need it every step of the way.  But together we can change this country for good.Thank you.