Next Branch Meeting: Saturday 9th August

There will be a meeting of the East Sussex Branch of the Co-operative Party on Saturday 9th August, 2014 10.30am,  at the Central Methodist Church, Langney Road, Eastbourne.

The Agenda will be:

 

1. Apologies for Absence
2. Minutes of the last ordinary  meeting  held December 2013, and draft minutes from the May AGM
3. Matters Arising
4. Reports:  a) Membership  b) Treasurer  c) Constituency Labour Parties  d) Sussex Co-operative Party Council  e)  Any other Reports
5. Campaign Planning- especially  (a)  Credit Union for the Forces Campaign (National) and (b) Eastbourne Pier- pushing for co-operative solutions.
6. Any other business, including date of next  meeting.

All Co-operative Party members are encouraged to attend. Tea and Coffee will be provided at the meeting.

 

Time for a Credit Union for Military Families

Every day, members of the armed forces make huge sacrifices to serve the UK. Military families face particular challenges, spending long periods abroad, facing frequent relocation, and their incomes fluctuating between regular pay and lump sums while deployed. These circumstances make financial planning difficult, and make it hard to secure financial services via ordinary high street banks.

Their situation makes service personnel a target for payday lenders such as forcesloans.co.uk, who charge extortionate levels of interest that can easily spiral. It’s a growing problem, with over 11,000 people calling the Royal British Legion’s Money Advice Service each year.

A CO-OPERATIVE SOLUTION: 

We’re calling for the Ministry of Defence to support the creation of a military credit union because our service families deserve better than payday lenders. 

The credit union would provide financial products such as savings, loans and mortgages, which would be designed to meet the specific needs of members of the armed forces. Membership of the credit union would be open to all serving and former members of the UK armed forces and their families. 

As a credit union, it would be owned by its members, with profits used to improve services and to offer competitive rates of interest.

WHAT IS A CREDIT UNION ?:

Credit unions provide many of the same services that you would find at your local bank, including savings accounts, loans and mortgages.

However, unlike banks which are privately owned businesses, credit unions are owned and run by their customers. This makes them well-suited to offer financial products that are tailored to the specific needs of the communities that own them.

Because they aren’t run for a profit, credit unions are also able to charge lower rates of interest than payday lenders

JOIN THE CAMPAIGN:

Visit the  campaign site here, to sign up as a supporter and to find out case studies and more information about how you can support this campaign.

Stop "Legal Loan Sharks"

The Co-operative Party is backing a campaign to regulate companies offering easy credit at exorbitant rates of interest.

Stella Creasy, who is the Labour and Co-operative MP for Walthamstow in East London spoke this week in Brighton at a TUC fringe meeting on this subject, alongside Owen Jones, the bestselling author of Chavs (which looks at the demonisation of the working class  in Britain)

Stella was joined in July by Ed Miliband, Leader of the Labour Party, and by Tom Watson MP, in launching a campaign pack , in association with the Co-operative Party and others.

Stella writes:  "This Government has so far refused to act to tackle the high cost credit companies who are pushing families into crippling debt across Britain. But that doesn’t mean that we can’t take measures to protect them and help make the case for a change in the law to cap the costs of credit. This pack is designed to help with ideas and actions you can take either on your own or together with others to stand up to these companies."

You can download the campaign pack here.

Incidentally, Eastbourne's Liberal Democrat MP Stephen Lloyd has opposed any action against these companies. You can click below to watch his speech last year attempting to justify this, here. If you don’t agree, then the campaign pack contains information to help you write to him, or other elected MPs urging action !