In modern politics, especially surrounding the EU referendum campaign, GDP is often used as a metric for progress. However, too often this growth is confined to those who are already rich, since the government in London does not understand the needs of regions such as the North East. The Co-operative Party’s new report states that the national government needs to work in tandem with grassroots organisations in order to empower these ‘left-behind’ regions.

During the EU referendum campaign, Anand Menon came to Newcastle and spoke about how leaving the EU would mean that the United Kingdom would lose a considerable amount of its GDP. Although events have proved Menon right in many respects, a woman at the event in 2016 shouted out, “that’s your bloody GDP, not ours!”

This was perhaps the crux of the whole referendum debate. Many people in places like North East England felt that there was little if anything to lose from voting to leave the EU, because they were seeing so little of what prosperity the country as a whole was enjoying.

Cooperative solutions

It is against this background that the Co-operative Party has brought out a new report. This report makes a number of serious points, which should be of interest to anyone who wants to see communities thrive and have people believe that they have a stake in the UK’s GDP.

This is particularly important if we are to have cohesive communities and a similarly cohesive country. As the report points out, “stubborn income and regional inequalities show that the trickle-down orthodoxy has failed many communities across the UK”, and that in fact, “the UK’s productivity growth was half the rate of the richest OECD countries, […] our mid-2023 wages matched those of the financial crisis and that the income per person of the richest local authority was 4.5 times that of the poorest”.

Among other issues, the report highlights the role that communities are already playing in solving the nation’s problems. This makes sense; a top-down model, dreamed up in the ivory towers of Westminster, Whitehall and other such places in London, simply can’t solve all our problems as a nation, because so many of those who work within the M25 bubble have so little understanding of the needs, aspirations and potential of areas such as the North East.

Already, many communities are pioneering solutions to problems such as climate change, community cohesion and the cost-of-living crisis. This organic way of solving our problems means that people can feel part of the solutions, rather than being branded as part of the problem, as they sadly too often are.

In this way, the report points out that the government could be giving people a sense of hope as opposed to alienation and disillusionment, and through this, people would be able to show what can happen when they are empowered.

This is vitally needed at the moment, as too many communities across the country, and especially in regions such as ours, feel powerless. This, in turn, breeds desperation and resentment, which becomes fertile ground for the malignant forces of the far-right.

A new economic model

Consequently, the report highlights that we need to grow our economy from the grassroots with a different economic model, which will see wealth being shared out more equally and more fairly.

Interestingly, this idea has its roots in development abroad, since it is all too often that changes in countries’ GDP throughout Africa and Asia have done little to improve lives. The Co-operative Party’s report argues that the same is true for the UK, owing to the inequalities which are baked into our current economic model.

The report also makes another important point, which again we can relate back to the famous comment in Newcastle in 2016. The quality and distribution of growth matter just as much as the pace. If the UK’s GDP rises quickly, that is of no use if the majority of that growth is concentrated in the hands of a few people in one small corner of the country.

National government as facilitator

However, while communities can do some things for themselves and are finding solutions to our problems, there is a limit to what can be achieved without national government support.

Therefore, the report also puts the case for the state acting as a facilitator or enabler to community growth: “If the state completely withdraws, which it has historically done, some [community growth] will happen organically, but really, really slowly. We need to see wealth creation for communities now, and for that the state has a job to do. That’s the model that we need to have if we want to have grassroots growth.”

It is really only government at the national level that has the power and resources to really help make this co-operative vision a reality. We must see the end of the London-focused government and instead see a genuine spreading out of both resources and power from Westminster and Whitehall.

A significant report

This report is significant, reminding us that economic growth will only be helpful to the public in general if its rewards are distributed fairly. It is not helpful to have economic growth that just makes the rich richer and leaves the vast majority of people untouched.

Moreover, the far-right is on the march again, and therefore it is vital to help communities feel empowered, especially in the so-called ‘left behind’ areas. These communities have many people within them who have the skills, the networks and the determination to improve their communities, with an economic growth that can lead to real social growth and a better quality of life for all.

They should be given the opportunity to show what they can do. Then perhaps we can all feel that we have a stake in the nation’s wealth and prosperity.