Jim McMahon

Jim McMahon

Labour (Co-op) — Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton

Speaking in the House of Commons on 21 October 2025

Debate

Co-operative Sector: Government Support

Contribution

I think a lot of people in Britain feel as though it does not matter what they do, how hard they work or how big their contribution is; they are just not able to make ends meet or get on in life. The communities where they live have been incrementally eroded and hollowed out, and they do not feel like they are getting on and doing well. The founding principle, if we take ourselves back to Rochdale and towns like Oldham, where this is part of our heritage, history and identity, was a sense that if we build something together, we share the dividend that comes from it—that we redistribute the value that we create in order to build an even stronger community. I think we observe a country and economy where the wealth that we create is taken off to foreign lands and international investors more than it is reinvested back in the local community. Co-operation is of course about power, but it is also about place and identity, and the co-operative movement is central to that.

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