Co-operatives and mutuals

There was a promising debate in the Commons this afternoon on the contribution which co-operatives and mutuals have made to society. It is a shame that the current crop of Liberal Democrat MPs seem to be unaware of the co-operative strand in Liberal party history, deserting the chamber, leaving the field to Labour/Cooperative MPs and a few Scottish Nationalists and Conservatives.

It is to be regretted that the Co-operative Party has now constitutionally welded itself to Labour. It has given up the freedom to lend its support to other progressive parties where their policies would benefit the Co-operative Movement. Indeed, there were times in the 'noughties when the Co-op was pioneering green policies which were more in line with the agenda of the Green party and the Liberal Democrats than the course pursued by Blair and Brown.

At a time when the debate about nationalisation versus private ownership was much more heated than it is now, it was the old Liberal policy of co-ownership which made the party attractive. For some reason which I cannot fathom, it never really caught on in spite of the high profile of one of its great success stories, the John Lewis Partnership which includes Waitrose. However, it is a standard model in Germany in companies great and small. It works for Germany, the power-house of the European Union