Mark is strongly supporting the Scottish Cooperative Party’s campaign to have Robert Owen, the nineteenth-century pioneer of cooperativism recognised on a Scottish banknote.

You can join the Facebook group here and sign the online petition here.

Owen (1771 – 1858) ran his mills at New Lanark on enlightened lines, providing education and housing for his workers as well as the opportunity to buy food and other goods more cheaply at his own shop. Even today he might serve as a model in a world where many employers have become used to contracting out services and employing staff on temporary contracts rather than recognising their obligations to their employees.

Mark is a Labour/Cooperative MP and chaired the group in Parliament in 2008-9. It is actually a large grouping with 28 MPs, 8 of whom are Ministers.  It campaigns on a number of issues such as the remutualisation of Northern Rock and proper accountability and control by the public of the way that the railways are run.

At the heart of Cooperative values is a belief in working together in an open and democratic way to achieve success which is seen in much broader terms than simply the pursuit of profit though it is worth noting that the Cooperative Bank and shops have seen very significant growth in business over recent years.

The Clydesdale bank issued a new series of banknotes at the end of last year which featured famous Scots such as Alexander Fleming, Robert Burns, and Robert the Bruce. New Lanark does feature on the reverse of the £20 note but 2012, the Year of the Cooperative, might be a suitable time for Robert Owen to get full recognition.

It has been pointed out that it might be appropriate for HBOS or Royal Bank of Scotland to issue notes with Owen on them as a reminder to them that business values can consist of something more than simply the headlong pursuit of profit.