So what do our Labour Leadership hopefuls think about the Co-operative movement?

As a determined Co-operator with a membership that goes back 18 years, I was fascinated to read the responses of our Labour Leadership hopefuls on their views about Co-operation and its place in a future Labour agenda. Apologies for its length, but this article is well worth a thorough read. It is also a good exposition on just what Co-operation is all about, for those who are yet to become members or are considering it.

As ballot papers hit the doormats of Labour and trade union members, the Co- operative Party has asked the five contenders for the Labour Leadership their views on co-operative issues. These are set out below:


Andy Burnham
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?
I joined the Co-op Party over 10 years ago, after being inspired by the potential of the co-operative ideal in football. At the time, I was working for the Government's Football Task Force and conducting an inquiry into the ownership of football clubs. I was struck by the success of supporters at Northampton Town, who had rescued the club via the country's first democratically-constituted supporters’ trust. It was clear to me then that this supporters' trust model, through an Industrial and Provident Society, provided the answer to many of the problems facing the game, particularly the asset-stripping of clubs by unscrupulous directors. In the Task Force report, 'Investing in the Community', I recommended that a new body be established to enable other clubs to follow Northampton's lead. The tremendous growth of supporters' trusts ever since shows how mutual ownership of clubs has caught the imagination of supporters everywhere.

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?
After working at the Football Task Force, I joined Chris Smith as his Special Adviser. At the same time as he received the Task Force's recommendation on club ownership, the Co-operative Party published a ground- breaking pamphlet by Professor Jonathan Michie – ‘New Mutualism: A Golden Goal? Uniting Supporters and their Clubs’. So compelling were the arguments made in both that, at the 1999 Labour Party Conference, I persuaded Chris to announce the establishment of Supporters Direct to promote supporter ownership of clubs. To date, more than 140 supporters’ trusts have been established and I was proud to have chaired Supporters Direct for three years from 2002 during the critical period in its growth.
In my view, the establishment of Supporters Direct was the Labour Government’s most impressive achievement on the promotion of mutualism. I say this not just because of the rapid expansion of the mutual sector in sport but because it brought the concept of mutualism to a new, younger and different audience, many of whom would not have known about co-operatives before.
However, my involvement in the wider Co-operative movement goes further than sport. As a minister and later as Secretary of State at the Department of Health, I was involved in early discussions about NHS Foundation Trusts as an extension of co-operatives into healthcare and as an answer to the powerlessness that communities sometimes feel in the face of healthcare changes.

3. The policies and resources of the Co-operative Party have historically been a great benefit to the Labour Party. If elected Leader, what specific plans do you have to introduce co-operative policies?
As Leader, I would put co-operative policies and new mutualism at the heart of Labour's future policy offer. This is because, post-recession, it speaks to the public's desire for a different approach to the ownership and behaviour of socially-important organisations. This can be seen in the success of the Co-operative Bank, which, at a time of crisis in the financial sector, was seen by the public as embodying trust and higher ethical standards. It can also be seen in the protest movements at Manchester United and Liverpool, as supporters call for the money motive to be tamed.
So Labour should be bold in calling for a return to the good mutual principles in financial services. As Leader, I will call for the remutualisation of Northern Rock, giving it the stability it needs and securing jobs in the north east. It is also the answer to another banking crisis that often goes unnoticed and unmentioned. Thousands of families up and down the country are paying more for their utilities simply because they do not have access to the right bank accounts. Even more worrying is that the lack of access to the financial services many of us take for granted leads some to take out doorstep loans, offered by unscrupulous lenders at extortionate interest rates. As leader, I will work towards establishing a National Credit Union, working alongside local credit unions, to offer people the right bank accounts so that they can get the services they need at a price that’s right and fair.
As Leader, I will work to increase the influence of mutual ownership in football. 15 years of rampant commercialism has poisoned our national game. Supporters' trusts are the way to tame the money motive in British Football. I will urge the football authorities here to adopt the rule from the German Bundesliga that all top-flight clubs should be at least 51 per cent supporter-owned.

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 biggest challenge facing the co-operative movement is explaining its relevance and value to the wider community. As Health Secretary, I supported and defended foundation trusts, and continue to do so. However, one of the shortcomings of this policy in practice was the fact that too many trusts paid lip service to true community involvement. Going forward, we need to learn the lesson that successful mutualism can't be imposed top-down but requires bottom-up enthusiasm. In order for co-operative ideals to flourish, we have to be louder and prouder of the achievements that we have already made and bolder about what we can achieve in the future.

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 Leader?
I will give Labour a Leader who will be true to our shared collectivist roots. I will also inspire a new generation with big ideas in the best tradition the Labour and Co-operative movements.
I want to see a world where the postcode of the bed you were born in no longer determines where you will end up. That commitment to fairness underpins my political philosophy: Aspirational Socialism.
We should celebrate social mobility but we must do more to help people achieve it. I will help kids without connections get on in life by ensuring that all work experience is advertised, not just carved up by those in the know. I will work to break down elites and create a fairer society by bringing an end to unpaid internships which mean that only those whose parents can support them are able to take up those opportunities.
Up and down the country, there are dilapidated terraces owned by absentee landlords who care about nothing but the Housing Benefit cheque that comes their way. I will give local authorities the opportunity to use prudential borrowing to buy those terraces compulsorily, turning them over to community apprentices to bring them up to scratch and available for local families to live in. Not only will this boost housing stocks quickly and effectively, it will give those apprentices the chance to learn a trade and bring pride back into communities.
As well as supporting those just starting out, I will do more for our ageing society. It is tragic that people fear getting older because they worry about whether they will be able to pay for their care if they need it. I will bring forward a National Care Service to give older people the care they need and the peace of mind they deserve: a truly co-operative answer, like the NHS before it, where everyone pays their way and everyone does their bit.
These are the principles upon which my leadership will be based, principles which have their foundations in the co-operative movement and which will take our Party back into government.


David Miliband
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?
I am a proud member of the South Shields Co-op Party and during my career, I have always been committed to the co-operative values of social justice, solidarity and responsibility. I joined the Labour Party when our communities faced decimation by the hyper-individualism of Margaret Thatcher. I always have and always will stand with our people.
I am also a member of the South Shields credit union. Credit unions are one of the ways we pool our resources and efforts to the benefit of all. At the beginning of the campaign I spoke about the need for Credit Unions to play a greater role in making sure we capitalise communities and restore stability after the financial crisis. As Leader, I would work with you and other groups to see how we can make this a reality.
Both our parties are stronger because of our partnership based on shared values. I want a Britain where we re- distribute power as well as wealth. Models of mutual ownership have a crucial role to play in this.
I want to make sure communities can take control over improving their own neighbourhoods. That’s why, as a starting point I have used my campaign to train 1000 future leaders in the principles and practices of community organising. We need to be a living breathing movement; a place where people come together to change things.

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 tried to live out co-operative values in my political life. As Local Government Minister I was serious about devolving power not just to councils but to communities, providing opportunities for different models of ownership.
As Schools Minister I initiated the Building Schools for the Future Programme which delivered some of the new co-operative trust schools around the country. This diversity of provision has been at the heart of delivering higher standards and school visions and values. Crucially, the co-op ethos, woven into the curriculum, gives children the opportunity to develop social as well as academic capital, and build connections with the co- operative movement around the world.
As Leader I would take forward co-op principles. Our election proposals for British Waterways to be turned into a mutually owned co-operative and our promotion of the use of community shares in football clubs, pubs, renewable energy and shops remain key to delivering better and more accountable services.

3. The policies and resources of the Co-operative Party have historically been a great benefit to the Labour Party. If elected Leader, what specific plans do you have to introduce co-operative policies?
I am proud of our record in Government, such as the creation of more than 120 NHS Foundation Trusts and more than 50 co-operative trust schools. However, now is the time for mutualism to play a critical role in the future of our economy and our society.
As a starting point, I believe that a strong and vibrant mutual sector will strengthen our banking system. A return to mutual ownership for Northern Rock, for example, would put the bank back in the hands of its customers and allow it to take a long-term view of its members’ interests.
The mutual principle could also play a role in strengthening the democratic accountability of the BBC. Under a mutual model, membership of the BBC could be open to everyone who pays the licence fee. Members could have the right to elect representatives to a Member’s Council that would elect a majority of members of the BBC Trust. This would give licence fee payers a way to democratic voice in the priorities of their broadcaster.

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?
In confronting the big challenges ahead of us, whether it’s rebuilding our economy, tackling climate change or protecting frontline public services – the need for collective action is greater than ever. This is a moment for mutualism, which offers us the opportunity to take collective action in step with individual aspiration, drawing on the values and practices of the co-operative party and movement.
We can already see progress with community ownership models helping in our transition to a low-carbon economy. The recent case of laid off workers starting their own collective to manufacture wind turbines on the Isle Wight is an example of the sort of innovation we need to stimulate growth and create jobs.
The challenge for both our parties is to use the power of community ownership to deliver our goals: an economy where the benefits of growth are fairly distributed, and a society where people take greater responsibility and ownership for the services they rely on.

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 Leader?
I will fire the imagination of the public as well as the party. I will unite the party and be a credible alternative Prime Minister; the pre-requisite for electing a Labour government and changing the country. Co-op members can see every day the damage being done by a Tory Government. My message is simple: there is an alternative, but only if you make the right choice for the leadership of our party.


Diane Abbott
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?
I am not formally involved in the Co-operative movement. But I support its aims and objectives.

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?
In the eighties I was member of a journalistic co-operative called The Leveller. As a local MP I have also supported a number of co-operative organisations in East London.

3. The policies and resources of the Co-operative Party have historically been a great benefit to the Labour Party. If elected Leader, what specific plans do you have to introduce co-operative policies?
I think the mutual model of organisation is a very relevant model going forward, particularly in financial services.

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?
My mother was an enthusiastic co-operator. But, as a society, we have lost faith in collective solutions. We need to make the Co-op relevant to a new generation. But younger people are acutely aware of issues like fairness, fair trade and sustainability and we need to make them aware of the Co-op's relevance and record on these things.

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 Leader?
The Labour Party urgently needs to rebuild, revitalise and defeat the Coalition at the next general election. I am the candidate to do it because I have the longest history in the party: councillor; trade union official; member of the Labour Party National Executive and twenty three years in the party. None of the other candidates has my knowledge of the party. The other candidates all rose through the New Labour machine. They are the Westminster insider candidates. I am the grassroots candidate. They are the continuity candidates. I am the only real change candidate. And the party needs to move on.


Ed Balls
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?
I'm proud to be a Labour and Co-operative MP – and the first Co-op MP to stand to be Labour leader. That’s because I believe in the co-op vision of people working together for the benefit of the whole community, a society that values all its people and makes sure that they are heard.
I believe my record in Government shows that I am serious about promoting the co-operative agenda. As a Treasury Minister responsible for financial services and as Schools Secretary, I sought to drive forward the co- operative vision of society.
From the parliamentary group – which now counts amongst its number many of the great new intake of MPs – to the Normanton and District branch's Friday night meetings which I first attended back in 1998, the Co-op Party is in many ways the conscience of our movement.
It's great to have seen the Co-op Party grow over the last few years, including with many more young members. The Labour and co-op movements have a proud shared history but a bright future too.
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 promoted co-operatives throughout my time in government. As Economic Secretary and the first Labour and Co-operative Minister responsible for mutuals and financial services I ensured Government support for the modernisation of co-operative law through a range of statutory instruments that built on recent Private Members Bills.
I was able to show this by ensuring Treasury support for a new Private Members Bill that led to the creation of the first ever 'super-mutual', bringing Britannia Building Society and the Co-op Bank together in the interests of customers, rather than the banking elite.
When I became Schools Secretary, we took the radical step of supporting the establishment of co-operative trust schools – to give parents and the whole community a greater say in their local school, without expecting them to go it alone and set up their own new school in competition to others - as the Tories want.

3. The policies and resources of the Co-operative Party have historically been a great benefit to the Labour Party. If elected Leader, what specific plans do you have to introduce co-operative policies?
Now is the time to put more co-operative approaches in place and there are three key things we should do to help develop and grow the co-operative and mutual sector in our country.
First, recognition for co-operative enterprise, with a level playing field for co-operative and mutual business.
Second, a financial services sector that serves people instead of banks with an unequivocal policy commitment that promotes mutual financial institutions
Third, putting the people into public services by supporting public services to be more directly accountable to the people they serve. For instance in schools, establishing co-op trust schools to give everybody with a stake in the school's success a greater say. I am also in favour of a major extension of locally controlled housing. This can be achieved by making housing associations democratic, by expanding access to shared-ownership and by promoting co-operative housing through community land trusts.

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?
I would promote a Labour strategy for getting the best out of the co-operative and mutual sector, ensuring that their role is considered across all policy areas. In practical terms, this means better tailored business advice, start-up finance, and ongoing business support.
Labour should create a Government Office for Mutuals with a designated Minister for Mutuals to ensure Co- operatives are given equal treatment in dealings with Government. Labour should also commit to ensure that mutual sector legislation keeps pace with company law reform.
I believe that we should commit to taking bold steps that will demonstrate our intentions and return Northern Rock to the mutual sector. Diversity matters at a local community level too. Credit unions are a force for good in financial services, so we should help credit unions to offer new savings products through many more outlets, such as the post office network.

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 Leader?
I am proud to be the only Labour Party Leadership candidate to be a Labour and Co-operative MP and to have a track-record of advancing the co-operative agenda in government.
The global financial crisis has reinforced the need for new mutuals to emerge providing employment and community based goods and services – they did not cause the crisis and have been solid servants of consumers at a time of great uncertainty. I believe passionately that our public services must be organised in ways that benefit users, not private companies, and I am convinced that mutuals can help deliver this too.
That's why as Leader I would make mutualism central to our policy thinking. We must root mutualism in Labour values and develop policies that put it into action to benefit individuals and communities. This will help us to see off the Conservatives' outrageous attempt to exploit co-operative ideas for their own very different political purposes – using the language of co-ops as a cover for cuts.
I will rebuild Labour Party membership and strengthen Labour's links with the trade unions and the Co-op Party, so our movement can win again for the millions of people who depend on us.
Most of all, Labour needs a strong leader in command of the economic arguments who can argue credibly that the Tory-Lib Dem spending cuts and VAT increase will destroy jobs and risk a double-dip recession. A leader who can show the country a real alternative – based on a more sensible timetable for deficit reduction, fairer tax rises and a plan to boost jobs and growth.


Ed Miliband

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?
Cooperation and mutualism are not only key Labour values but also cornerstones of healthy and vibrant communities and a fair economy. As a member of my local Co-operative Party in Doncaster and in my role as Minister for the Third Sector I have been keen to put those values into practice and enable the Co-op movement to thrive. The Labour Party's manifesto in 2010 incorporated a number of commitments to extend and promote cooperatives and mutuals. As the co-ordinator of that manifesto, full engagement with the Co-op Party contributed to the wide range of policies consistent with the aims and values of the cooperative movement that were included in Labour's offer to the voters. I particularly value the role the Co-op party plays in policy- development.

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?
Co-operatives and mutuals have a key role in improving public services and empowering both staff and users. Our 2010 manifesto included commitments to increasing the number of co-operative schools, and the option for health services to operate using cooperative principles. And it is right to consider mutual structures for national assets. I am proud that we promised to consider returning Northern Rock to a mutual model, and would argue for greater use of the mutual model in future reform of the banking system. As Minister for the Third Sector I developed the social investment bank, funded by the assets from dormant bank accounts, to provide something co-operatives and mutuals are often in need of: capital. Now re-badged by the Tories as the Big Society bank, this is a Labour legacy we can be proud of.
Co-operative values don’t only change the nature of the way markets operate and strengthen communities; they enable people to tackle big problems on a human scale. That's why I encouraged the development of renewable energy co-operatives, pledging a support service to enable communities to develop co-operative models for renewable energy projects. The Co-op movement asked for greater flexibility in the legal structures for companies wanting to run on a mutual basis. So as Third Sector Minister I pioneered Community Interest Companies which now offer increased flexibility for communities keen to be part of the mutual movement.
I am proud of what I have done, yet there is more to be done; and to achieve it Labour must win again. While the Tories talk about the Big Society they actually are pulling away the vital support that communities need to develop mutual and co-operative solutions to the challenges they face.

3. The policies and resources of the Co-operative Party have historically been a great benefit to the Labour Party. If elected Leader, what specific plans do you have to introduce co-operative policies?
There is a hugely important co-operative tradition in the Labour movement which the Labour leadership has not always drawn on as fully as it should have. I want to see a mutual future for our banking sector, and a return to mutual ownership at the heart of our plans for a new economy in which everyone has a stake. I want to see mutualism and co-operative ideas at the centre of Labour's plans for the public services. From the NHS to schools, our public servants and public services users should have a greater opportunity to get involved in running and even owning their services and co-operatives are one of the best ways of achieving this.
Co-operative principles, particularly through the vitally important credit unions, have been ever present in the campaigns for fairer lending practices, and I want to see a much tougher code of conduct than the current system enforced on financial institutions so that it is far harder to exclude or disadvantage the poor when it comes to lending and insurance practices.
And I believe it is the example of responsible businesses, including many co-operatives, that has shown the way when it comes to fairness in our communities and fairness in business. I want Labour to again be the party which stands up for responsibility in business and in community life. I want to see Labour campaigning for a living wage for all those in work. I want to see greater power given to local communities to hold public and private vested interests to account.

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?
This is a moment for the Co-operative Party to show how its values of fairness, justice and co-operative endeavour can be at the heart of Labour's rediscovery of its mission to change Britain for the better. Campaigns such as "the feeling's mutual" have been a hugely important part of beginning this process, but I believe the party can play an ever greater role in the future of Labour. As Labour seeks to reach out to those who share our values but have not always identified with our leadership, the Co-operative Party can bring new people and organisations into the Labour movement. It can offer a direction and set of principles from which Labour can draw across the widest possible range of policies.
The campaigns on banking and public services can be broadened to show how co-operative principles can inform progressive politics in addressing the role of markets, fairness and democracy in local communities and policy areas such as criminal justice – all of which would benefit from a distinctively co-operative input. And the party can and must play a major role in shaping the future policy programme for Labour in government.

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 Leader?
I will build on the great things that Labour achieved in Government. But we should be under no illusions; to return to power we must put the era of New Labour behind us. We lost the election because people lost a sense of who we were and what we believed. We started as the government of the windfall tax and the minimum wage and ended up defending bankers’ bonuses and failing to listen to our party members, embarrassed by our trade union links. We need a leader who is proud of our Labour values and will speak up for them loudly and clearly.
Our values of equality, solidarity and opportunity are what brought me into the party as a teenager and they are the reason I want to lead it now. I will turn those values into action: a living wage of more than £7 an hour, a High Pay Commission to stop the abuses in executive pay, a graduate tax to replace tuition fees, a foreign policy driven by our values, not simply our alliance with America.
We need a leader who will listen to our members. We won’t get back into power or sustain ourselves in power unless we create a genuine Labour movement again. My vision is to inspire millions to join us in our vision of a fairer, more equal, more just society.