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The Disraeli Room

The Disraeli Room

Blog Posts

  • The Future of Community Heat: Lessons from Germany

    20th August 2013

    With so much focus on the Energy Bill and reforms to overhaul the electricity market, the provision of our heat is often relegated to the side-lines. But nearly half (44%) of the energy we use in the UK is for heating – whether this be for industry, businesses or our houses – and must therefore be just as central to discussions regarding our decentralised and low carbon future.

  • Citizen’s bid to buy back the grid: lessons from Germany

    14th August 2013

    The city of Berlin has just become adorned with posters and billboards communicating the various campaigns of the major political parties. With the next General Election on the horizon (22nd September), much is on the agenda and much is at stake, not least the future of Germany’s Energiewende – literally ‘energy turnaround’ or ‘energy transition’ – that will see the continued phase-out of nuclear power stations and growth of renewables in the next decades.

  • Promoting Good Investment through the Church

    5th August 2013

    In recent weeks, the church and its investments have dominated the headlines. Archbishop Justin has spoken of his desire to harness our resources to compete loan sharks out of existence. He has also welcomed ResPublica’s new report on Holistic Mission: Social action and the The Church of England – a report which shows how much the C of E is doing to promote the common good, but also highlights how much more we could do if our resources were better stewarded.

  • Churches: Agents for social transformation

    30th July 2013

    Chatting with an Anglican vicar last week I was fascinated to hear his views on how the Church could be the agent for social transformation. His understanding was that, as pews became established within churches the perception of these buildings changed from being community resources for the benefit of everyone to solely being places of worship.

  • Making it Mutual: A pioneering milestone for Rochdale

    26th June 2013

    Wednesday 26th June marks the last formal step in the transition of Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH) from municipal to mutual ownership. This is the point where our transitional governance arrangements end and RBH becomes a true mutual, owned solely by its tenant and employee members.

  • Making It Mutual: Community ownership of a valued British asset

    9th May 2013

    Three years ago Dover stood on the brink. The port was on the verge of breaking forever its historic links with the town and surrounding communities and passing into the hands of unknown private owners.

  • Co-operative Schools: Transforming teachers, students and communities

    25th April 2013

    The Co-operative College has over recent years worked with the Co-operative Party and schools to develop a distinct co-operative trust model that enables schools to embed co-operative values into the long term ethos of the school.

  • The Big Society in a Small Country

    19th April 2013

    It has been suggested that the Big Society is essentially an English affair. I do not agree. The basic thesis of my latest book, The Big Society in a Small Country: Wales, Social Capital, Mutualism and Self-Help, is that not only is the Big Society relevant to Wales in the sense of providing much needed practical policy solutions to pressing problems, it actually has the potential to achieve a far better fit with Welsh than English culture.

  • Making It Mutual: Establishing a local banking sector

    18th April 2013

    There is much to be said for local banking. Local banks are based in the community, lend to the community, and make all of their decisions in the community. Localised banks would not only provide a proper return to investors, but make sure that profits are ploughed back into the local area.

  • Making It Mutual: Common ownership of land, infrastructure and natural assets

    15th April 2013

    Land is the ultimate non-renewable resource: they really aren’t making it any more. So does it matter who owns it? Owners of land come in many guises: private companies or individuals pursuing purely private ends, government in the interests of citizens, or not-for-profit organisations with a social or community-driven purpose.

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