Conservatives and cooperatives don't mix

This latest gimmick from David Cameron will fool nobody. The Tories don't get co-ops - they're about involving the whole community and users of services, not just workers.

And look at what happened when the Tories tried to set one up. Over two years after launching with a big fanfare, the Conservative Cooperative Movement is still a movement without members.

While the Tories neglected and destroyed cooperatives, Labour has nurtured and developed them. As a direct result of Labour support, there are now a million more members of co-ops - from football supporter trusts to housing mutuals. And we are extending mutual and co-op values into public services, such as through the growing number of cooperative trust schools. This smokescreen will not hide the fact that the Tories would cut frontline services like schools, Sure Start and the police.
Ed Balls, Labour and Co-operative MP for Normanton and secretary of state for children, schools and families

This latest gimmick from David Cameron will fool nobody. The Tories don't get co-ops - they're about involving the whole community and users of services, not just workers.

And look at what happened when the Tories tried to set one up. Over two years after launching with a big fanfare, the Conservative Cooperative Movement is still a movement without members.

While the Tories neglected and destroyed cooperatives, Labour has nurtured and developed them. As a direct result of Labour support, there are now a million more members of co-ops - from football supporter trusts to housing mutuals. And we are extending mutual and co-op values into public services, such as through the growing number of co-operative trust schools.

This smokescreen will not hide the fact that the Tories would cut frontline services like schools, Sure Start and the police.
Ed Balls, Labour and Co-operative MP for Normanton and secretary of state for children, schools and families

The Tories' comments today show that they are completely clueless on co-operatives.

Mutual public services are about giving communities a say in how those services are run. That is about involving not only workers but the people who use those services and running them as a community asset. The Tories just don't have cooperative values and never will.
Michael Stephenson, general secretary, Co-operative party

Forgive me if I am sceptical about the Tories' sudden conversion to cooperatives. George Osborne seems to have missed the point totally, likening co-operatives to Right-to-Buy. He is seemingly oblivious to the fact that the Labour government have already set up Cooperative Trust schools, which, under true cooperative principles, involve the whole community, including parents and wider stakeholders as well as teachers.
Sarah McCarthy-Fry MP

The Conservatives' conversion to mutualism has much more to do with the tightening of the opinion polls than it does cooperation. The government has already invested in cooperative schools, foundation trust hospitals and made it easier for credit unions to expand and develop. Coming out of the recession, cooperatives have an even greater role to play in rebuilding trust in our public services and financial institutions. But it is not an option on the cheap. If this is a just window dressing to make spending cuts more palatable it won't take the public long to spot a con.
Andrew Pakes, Labour & Co-operative parliamentary candidate for Milton Keynes North

15 Feb 2010 15:03

 

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