Tag Archives: mutuals

On Tuesday, 22 September, Tim Farron MP delivered a speech at our 2026 Autumn Conference during the F36 policy motion, “Restoring our waters: Britain’s water company crisis”, on the need for water mutualisation amid repetitive failures of privately owned water companies.

During this speech, he said, “proper Grimond liberalism”, referencing former Liberal Party leader Jo Grimond and his support for cooperatives and mutuals to manage public services over nationalisation and laissez-faire economics. For many people, this would have simply been just another niche reference, but for us at the Grimond Society, it meant a great deal.

Since July 2026, the Grimond Society has advocated for greater support for cooperative and mutual business models, social enterprises, shared ownership models, and co-determination in Liberal Democrat policy. We believe spreading power and wealth doesn’t stop at the ballot box; it extends to our communities, our workplaces, and every facet of everyday life.

We have grown significantly since our founding. We boast almost 70 members, including lay members, councillors, elected members of devolved parliaments, and party grandees. We have been featured in Co-op News, and the ever-fantastic Josh Matthews delivered the Society’s launch speech at Conference.

So hearing Tim mention “Grimond liberalism” on Tuesday reaffirmed the need for our party to show greater support for collective ownership. Rt Hon Sir Vince Cable, as Business Secretary during the 2010-2015 coalition government, advocated greater support for employee-owned businesses, but more recently, that same level of support has been lacking. If it weren’t for Josh Matthews’ earlier speech during the F6 policy motion “Liberal Democrats Mean Business,” there would have been only a passing mention of “mutuals, social enterprises and community interest companies”.

And for good reason, too, our party should once again become more supportive. According to Cooperatives UK’s “Cooperative and Mutual Economy 2026 report“, the cooperative and mutual economy generated £241.3bn this year alone, an 8% increase from last year. 1.7m people work in the democratic economy, with the number of cooperatives and mutuals increasing to 11,113; those are 3.2% and 4.9% increases, respectively. More people than ever are getting involved in democracy beyond voting and campaigning, and we should be there to support them and the causes they care so deeply about.