In the wake of the recent UK referendum result in which the British public voted to leave the European Union, the national trade body for co-operatives has released a report into the effect the decision will have on co-operative businesses.
Co-operatives UK’s ‘Brexit: Taking Back Control The Co-operative Way‘ sets out the organisation’s ‘positive vision for how co-operatives can fit into a post-Brexit Britain’ and states its three overarching ‘Brexit principles’, which are:
- Despite the Brexit workload for government, our basic policy needs must still be met
- Co-ops should not be put in a disproportionately worse position by the Brexit process
- The potential for co-ops to give people control and build a better economy should be harnessed
Welcoming the report, SEA’s Dan Whiteley said: “It’s interesting that the most successful message from the Leave campaign was this idea of ‘taking back control’ of the country, so there’s clearly a desire for greater involvement in big decisions that affect our society. Yet for the majority of the time, in our daily lives, we don’t have control: not in our workplaces, our housing or our shared community resources. Co-operatives are the way to change that.
“From a solidarity economy perspective, we need to stand against the scapegoating of migrant workers. They contribute to our common wealth, which is siphoned away by landlords, banks, politicians, and employers. Let’s continue to show solidarity with workers across Europe to change the current system.”
Download the full report from Co-operatives UK’s website here.
