End so-called "Modern Slavery"

The Co-operative Party is proud to be leading the way in campaigning against so-called Modern Slavery.

The Charter opposite is designed for local councils to commit to action on this issue.  Already Labour councils in Islington, Waltham Forest, Stevenage, Lambeth and Oxford  have signed. 

Modern Slavery is one of the great evils of our time, and it's happening under our noses. In nail bars, car washes, farms, factories and restaurants, it is estimated that tens of thousands of people in the UK could be victims. 

Find out more about the issue, and how you can get involved in our campaign by clicking here. 

Labour and Co-operative MPs have been leading the campaign in Parliament.  View the video below to hear some of their contributions. 

Fairtrade Coffee Morning: 27th February

The Co-operative Party East Sussex Branch and the Fairtrade Movement


invite you to a Coffee Morning on Saturday 27 February 2016 10.30-12.30 at St Luke's Church Parish Centre, Rattle Road ,Westham, Pevensey East Sussex BN24 5SL (By crossroads... map here)

Come and find out more about the Fairtrade movement and the Co-op Party on the eve of Fairtrade Fortnight. One of the Co-op Party's main commitments is to the Fairtrade movement but also campaigns on other people centred local issues. Find out how the two movements campaign and how you could get involved.

Entrance Free: Tea or Coffee and homemade cake £1

Come and try and buy a variety of Fairtrade products: Clothing, coffee, rice, bananas, chocolate and more !

Co-op Party Policy: Have your say !

At Co-operative Party Annual Conference 2014 we'll be discussing policy in 6 key areas.

• Consumer Affairs and Co-operative Development
• Health and Social Care
• Women and Equalities
• Communities and Local Government
• Energy and Environment
• International Development

The draft policy papers that will be debated are now available by clicking the links above.  If you' have additional ideas or amendments, you can submit these through our local branch, or e-mail the Co-operative Party directly by clicking here.

Annual General Meeting 2013

The East Sussex Branch of the Co-operative Party held its AGM today in Eastbourne.   

 

The meeting elected  Jean Couture as Chair, and Dave Brinson as Secretary, with Hastings Labour councillor Nigel Sinden as Vice-Chair.  Thanks were given to Dilys Gray-Jones, who stepped down as secretary after seven years service, that started when she was the driver to re-form East Sussex as an active Co-operative branch.  Jean and Dave will represent the Branch on the Sussex Co-operative Party Council.

 

The branch continues to affiliate to all local Constituency Labour Parties in East Sussex, and nominated John Carden to serve as delegate to Brighton Kemptown CLP, Jean Couture, Dave Brinson and Jake Lambert for Eastbourne CLP, and Dilys Gray-Jones, Paul Barlow and Nigel Sinden for Hastings CLP- where, of course, we are proud to have our member Sarah Owen as Labour and Co-operative Party Parliamentary Candidate. Branch member Emily Westley is also on the shortlist of Labour candidates for the European elections next year.

 

The meeting discussed our campaigning priorities for the forthcoming year- and our attention was drawn to the Co-operative Party's current national campaigns to promote co-operative values in Britain- including:

The Feeling’s Mutual- a campaign to build a fairer economy, support financial mutuals and, in particular, to return Northern Rock to its former building society status.
HomeShares – the campaign for Co-operative Housing Tenure- to recognise co-operative housing in English law for the first time.
The People’s Rail - to give passengers, staff and the taxpayer a stronger voice in the running of Network Rail and our rail network, by ensuring that the governing members of Network Rail are directly accountable to stakeholders and by enabling worker and community co-ops to bid for rail franchises.
Sewn Up – supporting the Kopano Women’s Co-operative in South Africa - raising funds for the women of the Kopano Sewing Co-operative in South Africa to help them renew their equipment and expand their business making clothes and school uniform for their local community.

and, of course:

End Legal Loan Sharking-  to regulate payday lenders, and the exorbitant rates of interest and penalties associated with them. Eastbourne Labour Party and the East Sussex Co-operative Party have made this one of our key campaigns- especially as local Lib Dem MP Stephen Lloyd has defended these companies in Parliament !

If you would like to be part of our campaigns, JOIN the Co-operative Party by clicking here.

A New International Settlement

Perhaps the most important thing the financial crisis has taught us is that no country is able to solve all of its problems on its own. As we face the greatest challenge to the world economy in modern times, the looming catastrophe of climate change and the continued emergency of global poverty, co-operation between nations has never been more important.

The G20 agreements reached constitute a global plan for recovery on an unprecedented scale. Commitments have been made to strengthening our global financial institutions, promoting global trade and mitigating the impact on the world’s poorest countries. We should not simply try to get back to the way things were before. Global co-operation is essential to creating a new world economy – designed to provide for all our long term interests, rather than short term gains for a few.
The Co-operative Party will campaign for:

• An International Transaction (Robin Hood) Tax – To help ensure our future economic stability, and ensure that banks pay the full cost of their bailout, we will campaign for the global introduction of taxes on capital transfers in the international stock, credit derivative and currency markets.... find out more about a fairer global economic system
• Protecting the future of our planet – We will continue to campaign for a comprehensive climate deal at the Mexico Summit, that will radically cut global emissions and provide the support needed by poor countries that are already struggling to cope with a changing climate... find out more about climate change
• Tackling Global Poverty – Co-operatives put people at the centre of development, giving communities the power to bring themselves out of poverty. We will campaign for the creation of a co-operative agency for international development, which will build capacity for co-operatives across the globe. >>  find out more about international development
• Fair Trade – through assisting fair trade producers to own an increasing proportion of their supply chain, we can allow primary producers to capture more profits and allow some of the world’s poorest farmers to collectively own sophisticated international businesses... find out more about Fairtrade
• Trade Justice – we will work with governments to replace free trade with just and equitable trade. We will seek to ensure that fair trade rules and development concerns are central to a global trade deal... find out more about a fairer global trade system