At today's Manchester Area Party AGM much was made of the Development Plan. Essentially it's the future structure of the Co-op Party in an area beyond just Manchester and Warrington and for the first time we had delegates from Stoke-on-Trent. It's an unwieldy area and one that will increase expenses for travel and mailings.
The guest speakers who stepped in at the last moment where two chaps from the new Staffordshire Credit Union. They'd obviously done the Powerpoint Presentation many times before. But it was no flaky wouldn't it be nice approach they talked about the grim realities of loan sharks, UK Christmas Hamper rip-off (£40 of goods for £90 - Farepak went bust even at those exorbitant rates) and the lack of thrift. We wish them every success to their members. The mutual offer for micro credit has a lot going for it - cheaper, safer savings - but not an instant fix. But long term solutions take time to deliver.
