Co-operative News

  The Paul Gosling Column   The conversion of NHS trusts into largely autonomous foundations trusts (FTs) has split the co-operative movement. On the one hand, prominent co-op figures – notably Co-op Party sponsored MP, David Taylor – have bitterly opposed the creation of FTs as a move towards privatisation. On the other, the Co-operative Party […]

  The Paul Gosling Column   The Lough Neagh Fishermen’s Co-operative Society needs half a million pounds to survive. What makes this co-op distinctive is that it is the last eel fishery in Europe. Most of its production goes to the Netherlands.   The co-op is in a crisis. The problem is that the young

  The Paul Gosling column   The miners’ strike of 1984 was one of those politically defining moments – except it was not a moment. It was a year of hard graft for striking miners, their wives and families. It was also a time when those families and the thousands of people who actively supported

  The Paul Gosling column Inflated house prices lie at the heart of the global banking crisis. Despite newspaper headlines talking glibly of bank debts caused by foolhardy ‘sub-prime lending’, the truth is more complex and disturbing according to a lively debate amongst community development activists in the United States.   We might assume from the

  The Paul Gosling Column   The Government has set itself stiff targets for building new homes and reducing carbon emissions. It has pledged to build three million new homes by 2020, while reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 60% – and possibly 80% – by 2050. Potentially the targets are in serious conflict – which

  The Paul Gosling column Farewell Ken – are we to blame?   Ken Livingstone was not a perfect mayor of London, but overall he was a very good one. On a personal level I am sad he is gone: I interviewed him once and had a very pleasant afternoon on the House of Commons

Saving Post Offices   by Paul Gosling   Eventually, the size of the Post Office network will be viable at about 7,500 branches, the Government recently told the House of Commons Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Select Committee. Given that the network stands now at almost twice that size, we have an awful lot more

  The Paul Gosling column   For an event held amidst a global economic crisis, this year’s Building Societies Association conference in Manchester was an upbeat affair. And that was how it should be. While a building society failure is not impossible, the sector has so far shown much ruder health than have some former societies

AT a dinner party about a century ago George Bernard Shaw reputedly sat next to a rather large and pompous lady, past her prime. “If I offered you a million pounds, would you sleep… (Subscription needed)

THERE is myth and there is reality. One of the secrets of a happy life is not to confuse the two. It is a lesson that one trade union should have learnt before it committed itself to kick … (Subscription needed)

THE World Council of Credit Unions – headquarters in Madison, Wisconsin and Washington, DC – has just held its annual conference: in Dublin. The choice of Ireland is both highly symbolic… (Subscription needed)

THE title was hardly inspiring: but the impact will be profound. A report that has just landed on the desk of Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt provides an indication of how the health… (Subscription needed)