Co-operative Debate Winner Announced

At the end of the inaugural Co-operative Debate, delegates voted on the proposal they considered the most important. The result was announced at the Co‑operatives UK AGM, revealing that “a co-ordinated response to climate threat” came out on top.

The subject matter of the final session at Co-operatives 2009 on the Saturday was set by members of Co‑operatives UK and was an opportunity for delegates to get involved in debating issues of contemporary significance to the sector.

This was the first time the Co‑operative Debate had taken place and the response was extremely positive, with a good variety of co‑operative members taking the platform to contribute to proceedings.

Debates were held on four subjects:
• Building links between the co‑operative movement and trade union movement
• A place for a strong independent retail sector
• A Co‑operative Fortnight
• A co-ordinated co‑operative response to the climate threat.

Ben Reid, Chair of Co‑operatives UK,introduced the proposals and a proposer put forward each one. Contributions were then invited from the floor before the proposer summed up. After each debate, proposals were voted on by a show of hands, and each one was overwhelmingly accepted. At the end of the debate delegates voted on the proposal they considered the most important. The result, which was announced at the Co‑operatives UK AGM on the following day, revealed that “a co-ordinated response to climate threat” came out on top.