Thursday 17th May, 7.30pm – Plymouth Council Chamber Civic Centre, Plymouth

Chaired by Peter Chave with

Councillor Tudor Evans

the new Labour and Co-operative Leader of Plymouth City Council speaking on plans for Plymouth as a Co-operative Council

Alex Baker of the Co-operative Group

speaking on the United Nations Year of Co-ops

Linda Gilroy

speaking on Fair Trade

Open to all Co-operative Members and to anyone who would like to be a member!

FAIRTRADE REFRESHMENTS

There will also be a raffle on the evening in aid of Ghana Link, a Plymouth based organisation supporting links between people in Plymouth and Sekondi Takeradi Ghana.

Back in the 1990s, I was one of many people who acquired shares when the Woolwich building society was demutualised. Disgusted at the very thought of becoming a shareholder, I put the paperwork away and forgot about it for 20 years. Then the credit crunch happened. Knowing I was right to vote against demutualization all those years ago gave me no comfort. But suddenly remembering that those Woolwich shares were now Barclays shares, therefore giving me a right to turn up at the Barclays AGM and express my disgust at their carry-on cheered me up no end.

My plan was to put a resolution to the AGM. So, in February 2011 I called the Barclays shareholders hotline. “I’d like to put a resolution to the AGM please,” “I don’t think that’s possible” came the reply, “ anyway, there’s no need to come to the AGM – the board’s recommendations will be supported automatically.” Hmm. In February 2012, I finally discovered that I needed 5% of the shareholding to support a resolution. Sadly, despite a Twitter appeal for more supporters, my 288 shares weren’t going to get me onto the agenda for this year. But it wasn’t over – I could still turn up and ask a question/stake the ground out for my attack in 2013.

So on an exceedingly wet Friday at the end of April, I turned up at the Royal Festival Hall, venue for the Barclays AGM, ready for some shareholder action. I had expected a room full of stuffy pinstripe suits, but the audience packing out the auditorium didn’t look that different to the crowd at Co-operative Party Conference – ordinary people, reflecting a range of ages, ethnicities and backgrounds who happily booed Chief Executive Bob Diamond, as if he was a pantomime baddie.

The questions came thick and fast for an hour and a half. And while I was very disappointed not to be called to ask mine (I was questioner 35 out of 28), most of the issues that mattered to me were raised by others: Why were bonuses being paid in a year when performance was down? Can we bring bankers executive pay more in line with normal professions? Why were there so few women in senior positions? Will Barclays pull out of food speculation? Sadly, the answers did little to reassure me that the Board had understood the shareholders anger. But if nothing else, Barclays Chief Executive Bob Diamond had to endure 90 mins of facetime with some of his paymasters and critics. While I’m still not convinced that he deserves his multi-million pound salary, he nonetheless handled the comments and questions with the kind of sincerity, patience and humility that many politicians would envy.

At the end of the meeting, I was one of the 27% of shareholders who voted against the executives’ obscene pay package. I was disappointed that we didn’t manage to overturn the board’s decision and make more of a fuss – indeed the biggest scrap of the day seemed to have been over the short supply of M&S lunch bags being handed out to departing shareholders. But reading about subsequent shareholder rebellions, and hearing commentators argue that it all started with the Barclays 27%, I’m beginning to wonder if my 288 shares are my latest political campaign tool rather than just poor compensation for the loss of a building society. I’m certainly planning to be back at for the 2013 AGM, hopefully this time asking a question if not moving a resolution. But I might even be ready to diversity my shareholder portfolio and become a shareholder activist in other ethically questionable companies, furthering the issues that mutuals and coops understand so well.

Author note: My 288 shares paid me a dividend of £16.70 this year, an amount which I have donated to the World Development Movement who (amongst other things) campaign to stop banks speculating on food prices. More information at www.wdm.org.uk

Melanie Smallman is National Secretary of SERA – the Labour Environment Campaign

Parliamentary Officer Joe Fortune considers yesterday’s Queen’s Speech but sees little good news for co-operatives.

Following the local election results, the Coalition Government briefed that they were ready to re-launch their partnership for power. The subsequent Queen’s Speech was to act as the clarion call for the Government’s priorities for the coming legislative term. The fifteen bills and four draft bills did not attract too much critical acclaim; indeed it could be said that even the CBI’s comments fell a little short of praise.

Given the pertinence and need for co-operative and mutual values within public policy, one would have thought that they would take the opportunity to demonstrate real support for the values which galvanize communities, and drive social and economic change. Sadly, they did not.

In contrast, Labour & Co-operative Parliamentarians have already been active in the debating chamber seeking assurance that co-operative issues had not been completely forgotten about by Mr Cameron and Mr Osborne in this humble address.

Gareth Thomas, Chair of the Co-operative Party, pointed out that a lack of specific legislative vehicle or co-operative measures was even more disappointing as it followed: ‘…no serious effort to remutualise Northern Rock over the past 12 months, no serious interest in encouraging more energy co-ops to emerge, no sustained effort to encourage real involvement in the running of football clubs by football fans through football supporters’ co-operatives, and no requirement to promote a diverse market in financial services for the Financial Services Authority or its replacement to help financial mutuals.’

Gareth concluded that: ‘Sadly, the Queen’s Speech confirms that once again the Government have walked away from the real practical measures that could have helped the co-op and mutual movement to grow.’

Gareth was not alone in his view; indeed even David Amess MP – a Conservative – is down in Hansard as being surprised there were not more co-operative measures included. Aside from the Government benches, other Labour & Co-operative members were also ready to start the new session with close scrutiny of the Government on its support for co-operative and mutual measures. Meg Hillier MP stated:

‘There is no commitment in the Queen’s Speech to introduce any mutual models at all, as far as we can see. The Water Bill would have offered such an opportunity and the Energy Bill might have offered opportunities for some mutual solutions, as would, of course, the Banking Bill. We need new measures on demutualisation and we have already missed an opportunity through the selling off to the highest bidder, rather than remutualisation, of Northern Rock. If the House is united on the need for banking reform, why not join that up with the idea of the mutual model and ensure that businesses as well as individuals are supported by mutuals?’

This was just day one of the Queen’s Speech debate; there are more to follow. Whatever the next session of Parliament holds for the Government and indeed the country, it is safe to say that Labour & Co-operative Members of Parliament will provide a powerful voice to ensure the aims, values and needs of co-operative movement are not ignored by this Coalition Government.

Full details of the event are below. Following the event there will be a reception with Fairtrade wine.

The event is £5. To book, please email Robin Cherney on Rcher24@aol.com before the 1st June, including any dietary requirements and mobility issues. The venue is DDA compliant.

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STEVENAGE COUNCIL, DANESHILL HOUSE, SG1

Meeting Chair: Cllr Chris Fegan, Chair of ERCP

11.00 – 11.30: Registration & Tea/Coffee

11.30: Paul Cranfield, Regional Secretary of the Co-operative Group:

International Year of Co-operatives

12.30 – 13.15: Lunch

13.15: Stan Newens, Chair, Labour Heritage:

Robert Owen and the Founding of the Co-operative Movement

14.00: David Evans, Chair of the Co-operative Enterprise Hub:

How does the Co-operative Enterprise Hub help new co-operatives to get off the ground and grow?

14:50: Gavin Shuker MP

How can the Tory Party pretend to be co-operators?

15:30: Kelvin Hopkins MP

Following the 2008 Crash – the Relevance of Co-operatives Today

16:10: Questions and discussion

This half-day conference concludes with Fairtrade wine and soft drinks and a chance to socialise from 4.30-5.30. Admission is £5.00.

One of the highlights of the election was seeing two Labour & Co-operative district councillors elected in David Cameron’s Oxfordshire constituency. Duncan Enright was elected for Witney and Rob Evans is now the councillor for Chipping Norton – home of the Phone Co-op as well as Jeremy Clarkson and Rebekah Brooks. Duncan and Rob, both previously Co-operative town councillors, will champion co-operation in Cameron’s backyard.

Traditional Labour heartlands also saw new Co-operative councillors. Wigan now has its first Co-operative councillors in thirty years. In Sunderland, where there had previously only been a single Labour & Co-op councillor, there is now a whole group, including the Leader of the Council, the Mayor and the Secretary of Sunderland Co-operative Party!

Elsewhere, well-known Co-operative Party activists will now be advocates for the Party in their town halls. Nick Crofts, a member of the National Executive Committee is a new Co-operative councillor in Liverpool, while Leeds campaigner Alex Sobel was elected as a Labour & Co-operative City Councillor and the Secretary of Cardiff & the Vale Co-operative Party, Phil Bale, was also a gain in South Wales.

Cardiff was one of a long list of councils where Labour took power from the Liberal Democrats or Conservatives or No Overall Control – with the election of new Labour & Co-operative councillors as part of Labour’s overall success. These included Birmingham, Swansea, Reading, Exeter, Norwich, Southampton and elsewhere.

In Scotland, which held all-out elections, 24 of the 30 Labour & Co-operative candidates who stood last Thursday were elected. These included Bill Butler and Frank McAveety, former Co-operative MSPs elected to Glasgow City Council. Jim Lee, Secretary of the Scottish Co-operative Party, has written a report on the elections on their website.

Wales too held all-out elections which saw several councils return to Labour control, including Cardiff, Swansea and Newport. Among the successes on Thursday, the Secretary of the West Wales Co-operative Party, Jan Williams, is now a Labour Co-op councillor in Carmarthenshire.

Several local Labour campaigns put co-operative policies at the very heart of their offer. It was particularly welcome to see Labour take control in Plymouth, whose Labour Group put forward a specific co-op manifesto as outlined by new Council Leader Tudor Evans on these pages last week. In Scotland, Glasgow and Edinburgh’s new Labour administrations also strongly committed themselves to implementing co-operative ideas. Two members of the Co-operative Councils Network, Liverpool and Salford, saw resounding victories for the Labour candidates for Mayor of their cities, with both Joe Anderson and Ian Stewart making commitments for credit unions and co-ops.

A particularly positive aspect of the election news was that every seat with a new Co-operative prospective parliamentary candidate – Hastings, Manchester Central, Milton Keynes, Stevenage and Stroud* – saw Labour gains, which bodes well for our future representation in Parliament. (*Corby did not have local government elections)

And in London, where sadly Ken did not quite make it but stood with six headline pledges including commitments to a Londonwide energy co-op and a mutual housing letting agency – the highest profile co-operative offer at a major election in living memory, Labour did very well in the Assembly elections, gaining four seats to take 12 out of 25. Joining the existing Labour & Co-operative Members of the London Assembly is Andrew Dismore, who gained the Barnet & Camden seat from the Tories.

In recent years the Party been effective in promoting co-operative legislation through Parliament, and has supported some exciting and new ideas.

Membership of the Party continues to grow.

Labour’s sister Party is looking for a new General Secretary to build on this success.

For full details, contact Karen Wilkie.

Location

London Bridge

Salary

£60-70,000 plus bonus

To apply

Please email a letter of application and CV to Karen Wilkie, Acting General Secretary, The Co-operative Party at k.wilkie@party.coop.

Closing date

25 May 2012.

Interviews will be in London on 2nd & 3rd July 2012.

Party Development & Campaigns Officer job description

Location

London Bridge

Salary

£28,000 inc. London weighting

To apply

Please email a letter of application and CV to Karen Wilkie, Acting General Secretary, The Co-operative Party at k.wilkie@party.coop.

Closing date

25 May 2012

When our special guest, Baroness Dean, launched the Plymouth Labour manifesto for us a month or so ago there was much excitement about plans to turn Plymouth City Council into a Co-operative Council. Championed by our friends in Lambeth and elsewhere we felt it was time that Plymouth, no stranger to co-operation, should embrace this approach.

Plymouth desperately needs a new vision of how a city should be run better. After half a decade of Tory dominance our city council creaks, its decisions taken behind closed doors, often against the interests of local people. Our manifesto proclaimed proudly that not only do we want to embrace co-operative values if Labour wins on Thursday, but that we want to throw open the closed doors of decision making and let citizens into the process.

This means we will web-cast council meetings allowing anyone with access to the internet the chance to see how decisions are made. We will review the way the Council spends its money so that more money can be driven to the frontline where the Tory cuts are being felt the most.

The Tory cuts to local government will see frontline services hit hard not only in Plymouth but across the country. Just as Lambeth asked its residents where the cuts should fall and how savings could be made, so will Plymouth. Being a co-operative council means engaging more people in the decision making, giving many more people the stake in the outcome and a part in the decision. This isn’t just a warm worded, rose-tinted glasses approach to governance, it is the way Labour should be operating and from Thursday, I hope it is the way Plymouth City Council will operate.

We have already been greatly aided in the election campaign by comrades and co-operators from across the country. We can achieve a Labour victory in Plymouth a new co-operative vision for our city, but only through hard work. Labour needs to win four seats from the Tories to take control on Thursday. It is going to be tight but it is a challenge we must meet head on.

There are many in our movement who will be spared the usual election mechanics on Thursday. Not all parts of the UK are voting. For those who have elections, you will have witnessed, like I have, people coming home to Labour and Tories switching. Other traditional Tories opting to stay at home or vote UKIP in the face of an increasingly incompetent and out of touch Tory-led government. This is warming but we should not let it dent our determination to get the job done on Thursday.

For those without elections I make this direct request of you. Can you help? Wherever you are in the country, you can help. Coming to Plymouth, or any of the other marginal councils across the country, to knock on doors and bring out the vote is very helpful, but GOTV can be done on the phones as much as on the doors. We have the phone sheets if you have the will to help.

If you can help please get in touch with me at plymouthlabour@gmail.com. There is a new dawn coming for co-operation in local government and this will, I am certain, form the foundation for gains at a national level in due course. I have been left in awe at the effort and determination of my fellow councillors, candidates and volunteers in Plymouth. I know that effort is replicated across the country. Let’s work towards a brighter future for all on Thursday. Let’s bring out that vote for a co-operative future and let’s work together to achieve something better.

Cllr Tudor Evans
Labour & Co-operative Councillor for Ham ward and Leader of Plymouth City Council Labour Group

DEMAND for affordable housing is rising almost as fast as the Government is making savage cuts to public spending.

A combination of the two is hardly a cocktail for success, and answers are needed quickly as Britain’s housing crisis deepens.

So what is the answer? Fortunately, the last Labour Government set the seeds for sufficient local control of housing to ensure there are a wide variety of options being modelled up and down the country.

One such model is co-operative housing. In some areas this will be an alien concept, as it accounts for less than one per cent of the housing mix across the land.

In April, I was fortunate to have an opportunity to see for myself how one such scheme is operating in Redditch, Worcestershire.

Redditch Co-operative Homes supports five separate co-operatives comprising around 300 homes.

The properties themselves were of an impressive quality. That alone didn’t necessarily make the scheme stand out – a higher standard of housing is, thankfully, a legacy of significant investment during Labour’s 13 years in Government.

But what really did strike me was the feeling of community ownership clearly enjoyed by the many residents I was fortunate to engage in conversation.

In co-operative housing, residents get to make choices on things like tenancies arrangements, repair contractors and neighbourhood activities.

Such arrangements ensure the residents feel that they are in the driving seat.

They have control over their homes. They enjoy the sort of independence that homeowners take for granted, but that those less fortunate often never experience.

In my view, it is precisely the sort of model that we should look to roll out in other areas – particularly those that have struggled with community cohesion.

What better way is there to make people proud of their neighbourhoods than to give them pride in their own homes first?

While the Government may choose to turn a blind eye, sooner or later action must be taken to solve the housing crisis. It is not going to go away by itself.

We have a housing benefit bill which is spiralling, and the only answer is to build again.

And if we build, we need to get it right.

The Government talks about localism but there is little evidence so far that it either plans to truly deliver on that ethos, or even that it understands it.

Co-operative housing encapsulates localism – providing independence to residents and delivering a sense of genuine ownership and pride.

Chris Williamson is Labour MP for Derby North
www.chriswilliamson.org

The Financial Services Bill covers many issues including reforming the way banks are regulated and the creation of a new Financial Conduct Authority. Crucially the new FCA will also oversee consumer credit – and have the power to act against companies who offer ‘toxic’ financial products. This amendment to Clause 22 would give this new body specific powers to cap the charges firms make for credit.

Fines will only have a limited impact on an industry which is making millions lending money at astronomical rates of interest to British families given the demand for their services in our current economic climate; an industry where in last year alone one firm posted a pre-tax profit of £162m, and another paid its chief executive £1.6m. On the otherhand, capping their charges would send a strong signal about what costs of credit will be tolerated in the UK. It’s the first step towards securing industry-wide caps on the total costs of credit, and so giving British consumers the same protection from these loans that others around the world enjoy.

Help us make a difference to the families in our communities struggling financially because of these companies by taking action – let’s together end legal loan sharking in Britain!

Suggested text to send to your local MP