I am very proud that Torfaen County Borough Council has become the first Welsh Council (and the 19th in the UK) to sign up to the UK Councils for Fair Tax Declaration by approving my recent motion put before members. In doing so we have joined a growing movement for a gold standard of responsible tax conduct.

Far too many people are working hard just to keep up. It’s time for a change.

The best way to create wealth in an area is for more people to own the assets.  It’s fairer, more economically sustainable, and has better social outcomes.  A co-operative economy is resilient and less exposed to economic shocks, and ensures customers and workers have a greater say and stake in our economy. 

It’s Heart Unions week, a time when we tell the stories of why unions are vital for everyone at work and encourage people who aren't yet in a union to join.

When a pub closes it can really rip out the heart of a neighbourhood. For many people in Walworth, South London, where I’m a councillor, the Beehive was the epitome of a community pub. Not just a place to grab a drink, but a place to meet neighbours, make new friends and hold landmark events from weddings to wakes.

Our membership is increasing, and with over 13,000 members we now have more than at any time in the Party’s history. With significant elections coming up, we’re putting ourselves in the best possible position to increase the size of our political representation.

In a parallel universe, the Government would have seized upon and rocket boosted co-operative principles and community power within a genuine ‘levelling up’ agenda. Instead, today’s long awaited Levelling Up White Paper doesn't do enough to put power back in the hands of people who need it most. 

It is vitally important that this LGBTQ+ History Month, we remember the rights we have won as a community and the sacrifices it took to get to this point. However, we must also remember that there is still so much further to go.

In the West Midlands we are so excited to be leading on or supporting others in pioneering new ways of bringing different agencies, community groups or organisations together to work more holistically and in a way that truly embodies co-operation.

The BBC licence fee is back in the news again. But the debate about whether to scrap it or not misses the fundamental value of the BBC to our culture, economy and way of life.

I’m delighted that the Co-operative Party launches a consultation on rural communities which will build on the excellent work that has already been done on Labour’s Rural England Policy Review, led by my Labour and Co-operative colleague Luke Pollard MP.

Government could –if it wanted to– make fan ownership a reality. Make no bones about it, Derby FC is in administration because of the structure of ownership which encourages owners to overstretch and a failed regulatory system

As we rebuild from the pandemic, we must take the chance to have a more open and collaborative approach to the future of the town centre, with the council, West Yorkshire Mayor and our community all working together as architects and advocates for a better town centre at the heart of our thriving community.

The future of technology is the central political question of our age. Our co-operative movement can shape the answer for public good.

This week we will be debating the contribution of co-operatives to our economy and public life. The vast contribution our movement has made wouldn’t fit in a single article – our movement has shaped hundreds of thousands of communities and demonstrates day in, day out a better way to do business.

That is why I am launching a consultation on my bill to enshrine the Right to Food in Scots Law.

There is some welcome measures in today's review. However we know community ownership provides the best protection from irresponsible owners, and no amount of tinkering around the edges will make up for the review’s silence on putting fans in charge. 

As a local councillor, I regularly hear from women who feel uneasy or unsafe, they want change and they want it supported by women and men.

Fighting the climate emergency and fuel poverty by reducing bills, are all ways that the City Council leads and adopting the Fair Tax Foundation standards seemed to be a natural extension of this.

As Co-operative MP James Murray puts it 'ending the race to the bottom is crucial to taxing fairly, and to helping our high streets and British businesses to thrive'.

We must be focused on how we clean our energy, decarbonise heat and transport, and create high-paying green jobs. 

This weekend over 30 Co-operators from across the East Midlands came together in Gedling to knock on doors, deliver leaflets and run a street stall.

It’s time to give young people a seat at the table – a say AND a stake – so that we can put in place the bold, co-operative solutions we need to tackle the climate crisis – before it’s too late. 

Time is running out to get to net zero and avoid a climate disaster—Oxford is just one example of a co-operative city taking bold climate action.

It is critical that the untold stories of Black Britons are not just told but celebrated. Black History is intrinsically part of our British History  and if these contributions are not known we are all robbed of our British History.

That not a single river in England meets an acceptable standard of environmental health isn’t just of huge concern for the ecological and natural wellbeing of our waterways, but is further symptomatic of a broken water and sewage system in our country.

We need fundamental reform – scrapping unfair and broken business rates system and replacing them with a new system which protects high streets, incentivises investment and rewarding businesses that reopen the shutters on empty shops.