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“David fighting several multinational Goliaths”
When asked to describe Positive Money in a single sentence in our supporter survey back at the start of the year, this was one of the answers we got ☝️ and it felt very true this year.
So John, as we head into a new year, we’re looking back and celebrating some of the amazing things we’ve achieved together against the odds in the last 12 months. We hope you can spare some time to check out our highlights from 2023… |
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🏦 Too-big-to-fail banks still dominate our economy. This means if just one collapsed, it could bring our whole payments system to a standstill. So after the crash of Silicon Valley Bank and Credit Suisse, we made the case with a blog and video that the best way to avoid this kind of chaos is by building a public banking system. 🥔 Your Christmas spuds cost more than last year. [1] We launched two videos earlier this year on Fossilflation and Climateflation to help explain why. They got almost 1 million views across our social channels, and high profile figures likeCaroline Lucas and John McDonnell shared them too. 🎪 We carried on spreading the word at this year’s Glastonbury festival. From our stall in the Green Futures field we gathered over 1,200 signatures for our petition calling on Chancellor Jeremy Hunt and Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey, to break free from fossil fuels to bring down energy and food prices. |
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🏠 Mortgages and rents went through the roof this year, so our team kept the spotlight on the root causes of the housing crisis: how decades of policies have turned our homes into financial assets. And why we need retrofitting, tax, ownership and financial reforms now. Our new report exposed the unequal impacts of the housing crisis on people of different ethnicities, covered by Bloomberg. We ran workshops on landlord finances with grassroot activists from Acorn the Union, the Renters’ Reform Coalition and the London Renters’ Union.
💪 At a public meeting earlier this year, Cheshire East Councillors accepted 10 out of the 12 recommendations made by our People’s Panel on the Cost of Living - true people power in action! Read more and watch a video about the project by clicking below. |
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Our local groups kept busy this year, running over 25 events online and in-person in Southampton, Brighton, Belfast, Edinburgh, Devon, Hammersmith and Tower Hamlets. If you’d like to get involved (or start a group yourself!) please email [email protected] so we can put you in touch with a local leader. 💷 We celebrated a win in August, when the Treasury announced new measures to protect access to free cash machines. A big moment for groups like us, who’ve been fighting to protect access to cash for years, because it’s a vital lifeline for millions of people who depend on it. The next step will be holding them to account to enforce it. 📜 Positive Money’s ideas were cited in several parliamentary inquiry and government consultation reports, after our incredible Influencing team submitted evidence to 19 this year. On issues from the Bank of England’s independence, to the role of capital in a green economy and the Renters Reform Bill. [2] It proves that when Positive Money talks, politicians listen. 🪙 The future of money remains a core part of our work, especially with a digital pound on the horizon. In May, we held a roundtable with civil society groups and officials from the Treasury and the Bank of England to discuss it. We also did a webinar and mobilised more than 1,400 members of the public to respond to the Bank’s public consultation, to highlight concerns over privacy, inclusivity and accessibility (alongside the need to keep physical cash too!) The Bank of England acknowledged our impact for their last consultation in 2022, so we’re keeping a close eye out for this next report. 🪧 Our campaign for a windfall tax on banks also hit new heights when interest rates hit their peak in August. Our action outside the Bank of England got widespread media coverage in The Guardian and Independent and interviews with Good Morning Britain, BBC News and LBC News. Since then more MPs have joined the call, our YouGov polling proved a majority of the public agree, and we were cited in a debate in parliament on the issue earlier this month.
🌎 Our international teams had some great successes this year too. In the US, our central bank scorecard was cited by members of Congress, including Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders. And we helped 120 teachers to quiz Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and submitted an open letter on the Fed’s (lack of) plans to green the U.S. financial system. While in Brussels, our team delivered a clear message to the European Central Bank after rallying 58,000 people and 16 civil society organisations behind one clear ask: unlock finance to make our homes greener and more energy-efficient.
👏 Well done John for getting to the very end of this email - and a huge thank you for all your support this year. As you can see, it really does make all the difference!
Right now, our broken money and banking system is fuelling an economy that only works for those at the very top. But together, bit by bit, we’re trying to shift that dial. 2024 certainly holds a lot more work in store, but until then…
from the whole team at Positive Money UK, we wish you a very happy New Year 🥂⭐️
Hannah, Nicole, Simon, Rachel, Chloe, Tracey, Paul, Danisha, Fran, Farisai, Ellie, Zack, Mira, and Flavia
Notes: [1] Bloomberg: Climate change hits potatoes, making Christmas even pricier Report: House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee: Making an independent Bank of England work better |
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