Last week, a comment appeared under my last LDV piece from Dennis Delice, in which he said he would be interested in an internal party group focused on furthering the case for economic democracy by encouraging a more co-operative and mutualistic economy. After reading it, I got in touch with Dennis via LinkedIn, and within a few hours, we had brought the idea to life.
The Grimond Society launched on Thursday, 2 July, to put economic democracy at the heart of Liberal Democracy policy.
We named it after Jo Grimond because this was the same cause he championed over six decades ago. He wanted workers to stand alongside shareholders in company law, praised employee mutuals long before they were fashionable, and helped found Job Ownership Limited; the forerunner of today’s Employee Ownership Association.
He called employee ownership “socialism without the state”. This wasn’t in praise of socialism, but a dig at the statist belief that workers can only benefit from a complete overhaul of capitalism and an over-concentrated state, which could be disproven by economic democracy. We believe this still holds, and it’s time the party makes it clear once more.
None of this is a new idea, even inside our party. Richard Warren argued the very same thing back in 2016, and the comments on his piece talk about a group similar to this one that ultimately fell through.
We took these lessons, we learnt, and applied them to the Grimond Society. It’s built differently, and deliberately. Members join in one of two tiers: an active core takes on named tasks and carries the work between meetings, and a wider circle of supporters is called on only for specific tasks: a signature, a share, a room filled.
Nobody is ever assigned work they didn’t choose, and nobody will ever just get noise from us.
The Society’s first objective is already set: a policy motion to the Spring Conference in York next year. The motion will rest on the principle of parity, not privilege. We’re not looking to force organisations to become co-operatives, and we do not believe the state should “pick winners”. What we believe is that the state is no longer a neutral actor, with company law benefitting shareholder firms, and investors in conventional start-ups enjoying tax reliefs not reciprocated for co-operative capital.
A co-op could outperform a private firm but still be unable to raise money on equal terms, not because the market is biased against them, but because the rules are. We want to level the playing field for cooperatives, mutuals and social enterprises, then let the market decide.
If this sounds like your kind of politics, membership is open to every party member, and there will be a place for you if you either want to take on a named role or support us when it counts, by signing petitions and sharing posts. You can join here and find us on Facebook and Instagram at The Grimond Society.
Jo Grimond had a vision. We believe it is time to enact it.
* Jack Meredith is a member of the Welsh Liberal Democrats and an active campaigner and canvasser with Swansea and Gower Liberal Democrats. His writing focuses on democratic reform, social justice, trade unionism, economic democracy, and the institutional foundations of effective government. He has written for the Fabians, Lib Dem Voice, Liberator, Nation Cymru, Bylines Cymru, and Centre Think Tank.
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8 Comments
Correction in the article: Thursday, 2 July – my mistake there!
Unlike, I suppose, Mr Meredith, I well remember Jo Grimond campaigning for Co-ownership, as did my then MP Donald Wade.
I would cite the following article in the Journal of liberal History for Mr Meredith’s attention : “Ownership for All: The Liberal Party, coownership and industrial relations Evening meeting, 9 July 2012, with Tudor Jones and Andrew Gamble; chair: Chris Nicholson Report by David Cloke”. I believe it can be read online.
On a personal level could I suggest Mr Meredith research the life of Theodore Taylor (one time Liberal MP) who owned a textile mill in Birstall, Yorkshire, which he ran on a co-ownership basis. Theodore lived to the great old age of 102 and I remember him and knew of him through my Dad who started work there as a weaver in 1930. There’s an Interesting Wiki article on Theodore.
Thank you for your priceless insights, David; you bring to light how co-operatives are in not a stranger to the liberal tradition, and have roots in British liberalism, and even almost became adopted as one of the central aims of the party.
I have already started looking into the policy paper on co-operatives and mutuals from the autumn conference that very year – it is unfortunate that it became forgotten as the Coalition’s priorities took a different route. I believe that we will take inspiration from that document and perhaps that evening meeting too, there’s a lot of gold in it that never glistened.
Lots of work going on already out in the community.
Lots to build on if we have the will to do it.
@ Dennis Delice It all shifted after the merger with the SDP.
@David Garlick, I couldn’t have put it better myself. There is so much to build on, and we NEED to find the will to do it. It’s why The Grimond Society exists, and we hope to bring people along with us in putting economic democracy and ownership for all back at the heart of party policy.
This country certainly needs something tangible that demonstrates to the world that it is becoming a different country. A wealth tax might do it if it is comprehensive and significant. A doubling of our renewable energy generation might as might abondoning our nuclear deterrent. Whatever it is, it must be put into effect with publicity and pride as symbolising the sort of country we are becoming.
Peter Hirst 24th Jul ’26 – 5:16pm:
This country certainly needs something tangible that demonstrates to the world that it is becoming a different country. A wealth tax might do it if it is comprehensive and significant.
A ‘wealth tax’ would certainly do that. It would demonstrate to the world that the UK is no longer interested in becoming prosperous and it would accelerate the ongoing exodus of wealth creators (one in six of the 2024 Times Rich List are already reported to have left). Wealth taxes have failed everywhere they’ve being tried. Switzerland is the exception that proves the rule as their wealth tax varies by canton (in Nidwald it’s 0.11% including the municipal multiplier) and is the only tax on movable wealth such as shares or crypto (no capital gains tax or inheritance tax for descendants).