The Co-operative Party

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 [...]

Last Wednesday, co-operators gathered in Westminster with Labour's Shadow Housing Minister to discuss Labour & Co-operative MP Jonathan Reynolds’ private members bill on co-operative housing tenure, reports Daniel Carey-Dawes.

Whilst the UK’s housing stock only comprises of 0.6% co-operative housing, the European average is 15% with some countries such as Turkey and Norway having as much as 25% of housing being owned and run by co-ops. This country is one of the few that does not recognise co-operative housing in law. That’s why we [...]

Parliamentary Officer Joe Fortune rounds up the latest from Parliament with the work of Co-operative Parliamentarians. This regular column will briefly round up some of the important or noteworthy pieces of Parliamentary activity and business for co-operators each week. It will highlight the work being done by Co-operative Party MPs and co-operators in Westminster. Of [...]

Today the Co-op Party meets against a backcloth of rising prices for gas and electricity. As the temperature drops, millions will start to see their energy prices spiral out of their reach. They will face the terrible choice between staying warm and running up debts, and turning off the heating despite plummeting temperatures. Those on [...]

Meg Hillier MP, Shadow Energy & Climate Change Secretary and Chair of the Co-operative Parliamentary Group, gave a speech to BusinessGreen tonight. In her speech, Meg outlined Labour’s commitment to a green economy and green jobs, reducing energy dependence and helping people with rising energy prices. She advocated renewables especially on-shore wind and, above all, [...]

The Co-operative Party is the second largest opposition party in parliament with 28 MPs. Each of them is, of course, also a Labour MP. As a group we are keen to bring our distinctive and radical policy agenda to help shape the policies of the current government and of the opposition. We have a talented [...]

Meg Hillier: rose-

Meg Hillier: Research by the House of Commons Library shows that no peacetime Government since the 1920s have presided over fewer housing completions than this Government over the past two years. When will the Chancellor and his team stop tinkering with allowing a few people to buy new homes, and instead deal with the systemic problems by increasing housing supply?

Meg Hillier: The hon. Gentleman has made a good point, but does he not agree that the withdrawal of some of the potential funders of our future nuclear provision was partly caused by wobbles in the coalition Government on this issue? Has he any stronger messages for his coalition partners?

Meg Hillier: The Minister was piling them so high and wanting to teach them so cheap that things were bound to come crashing down at some point. She cited economists in favour of the proposals, and she cited the head of Ofsted, Sir Michael Wilshaw, as being in favour of better qualifications-but not, I note, in favour of higher ratios-but what about parents and child carers themselves? Can the...

Meg Hillier: We are a month into the implementation of the bedroom tax and the benefit cap is about to be rolled out across London. Does the Leader of the House not think that it would be good to have a debate between Members and Ministers from the Departments for Communities and Local Government and for Work and Pensions, because there is clearly a gap? Constituents of mine are being issued with letters...

Meg Hillier: First we had the pile ’em high, teach ’em cheap approach to child care, increasing ratios for child minders. Today, the children’s Minister was reported talking about chaos in nurseries for two-year-olds. Meanwhile, in my constituency, parents wait two and a half years for a place for their baby. What are the Government doing to increase the supply of child care for working...

Meg Hillier: A year ago, GPs in Hackney bid to run the out-of-hours services. Earlier this year, they were told that it had to be tendered because the board was fearful of legal challenge from private health companies. Who is running the NHS-the Secretary of State or the private health company lawyers?

Meg Hillier: On a point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. I regret that when I spoke earlier I neglected to draw the House’s attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests, and I seek to rectify that now.

Meg Hillier: Will the Minister update us on the administrative need to provide one’s national insurance number on registration and say whether she has modelled the impact of this on take-up?

Meg Hillier: We should be proud of what we have achieved in leading the way. Will the hon. Gentleman acknowledge that many of our constituents provide a lot of money through remittances, which are often under-counted? Those remittances are very much an example of charity beginning at home.

There will be a public meeting on Monday 20th May between 7-9 pm at Hackney Assembly Hall at Stoke Newington Town Hall to discuss proposals to close Kingsland Fire Station

New School Places, GPs Out of Hours Service, TalkTalk fined for making silent calls, Tax avoidance, Hackney Women’s Dinner, Future of Hackney fire stations

Members of the Energy and Climate Change select committee want to know the one question you would ask your energy provider ahead of their oral evidence session on Tuesday 16th April at 10 am.

Benefit changes come into force, Leveson, New Homes bonus, Offices to homes, The Hackney to Chelsea line, Mayor’s Police and Crime Plan, Kingsland Fire Station, Easter workshops for tech students

The London Apprenticeship Company is launching a new project to create 50 Apprenticeships in 5 weeks.

Children and Families Bill, Justice and Security Bill, UK Fashion Industry, Bedroom Tax, Visa and immigration delays, Out of hours GP services