ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½

Good morning. Yesterday we heard that the Co-operative Bank is looking for a buyer, and it was suggested that its name might even disappear from the high streets, threatening the Bank’s part in a noble history that goes back over 150 years. The Co-op’s much more than a bank of course – its roots go back to the Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers who formed a retail and consumer group to fight poverty and distribute profits back to its members. My nearest Co-op convenience store still proudly invites me to become a member and so contribute in a small way to local good causes.

The Co-operative movement has been a remarkable force. In its very name is the core belief that people can work together successfully to achieve common goals. Buying and selling and lending and borrowing can be founded on an ethic of mutual support. In short – we are stronger together than we are apart. The bank was part of all this, and still subscribes to ethical policies, even though only 20% of its business is now held by the wider Co-op group.

These ideals are perhaps out of step with other trends in today’s society which tend to lead us away from collaboration. We are always being told to shop around. I had an energy bill the other day which advised me that there was a chance of a better deal if I signed up to another provider, but I knew that would mean hours scanning small print to try to work out whether I would indeed be better off by changing. Every time I buy a train ticket I have to struggle through offers which come with restrictions – the best deals sometimes involve cheating the system by going miles out of my way, or buying several different tickets instead of one. There are, of course, advantages to encouraging competition but it can contribute to an anxious life when you have to be ever vigilant to avoid losing out. You tend to live in a state of high alert in case someone somewhere is doing better than you are. None of this is good for the blood pressure, or for encouraging that neighbourly concern which is the fabric of civilised society.

Trust was - still is - the very foundation of the co-operative movement. Our problem is that trust is in short supply; it can even seem a naïve response to never ending complexity. But the founders of the Co-operative movement dared to believe the opposite; that trust is precious social capital. The Gospels suggest that it is the demons who are always trying to divide us from one another and ourselves, while God strives to unite us. A trust-filled life is a potential blessing.

Perhaps if we could find out where people still have trust we could even begin to rebuild a social ethic. We don’t know what will happen to the Co-op bank, but it would be a tragedy were we ever to lose the ideals behind it.

Show less