Scottish Labour’s new manifesto, Scotland Needs Change, represents a strong co-operative vision for Scotland’s future. After 19 years of SNP governance, Scottish Labour’s Manifesto aims to build an economy based on co-operation, shared prosperity and community empowerment after the next Scottish Parliamentary elections. At the Co-operative Party, we are delighted to share commitments on co-operative growth, community ownership, co-operative housing and much more.

Scottish Labour has clear ambitions for a growing co-operative movement across Scotland. The Manifesto commits to introducing new business support and advice to facilitate growth amongst Scotland’s 600 co-operatives – with the goal of enabling more business conversions to the co-operative and employee-owned models. Increasing business transitions will help to boost local ownership and give people a meaningful stake in their workplace or local economy.

We share Scottish Labour’s ambition for rapidly scaling-up community energy across Scotland – making the most of the country’s abundant renewable resources. The Manifesto commits to a new £100m Community Energy Fund, to support local community development of renewable energy projects. This will be complemented by the introduction of stronger rules on community ownership and benefit from large offshore energy projects – moving Scotland closer to the Danish system of widespread community ownership.

New reforms to Scotland’s Community Right to Buy will make it easier than ever for community groups to purchase, takeover and save local community assets. This will mean supporting, retaining and regenerating much loved local institutions and assets, whether it’s a pub, shop, sports facility or music venue. This change has the potential to be transformative to community ownership across Scotland – in both urban and rural areas – helping to reverse high street decline and a loss of pride in local town centres.

Scottish Labour’s plans for co-operative growth do not stop there. The Manifesto commits to supporting the growth of mutual financial services to tackle financial exclusion, safeguarding co-operative retail by abolishing business rates and developing a new generation of housing co-operatives to provide long-term affordable homes across Scotland.

The Scotland Needs Change Manifesto is a bold statement of a new co-operative direction for the country. The Scottish Co-operative Party will be supporting our candidates and members as they make the case for this new co-operative direction across the country. In May, vote Scottish Labour & Co-operative!