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.