Paint Your Town Red

May 10, 2021

Paint Your Town Red - Review

Paint Your Town Red

How Preston Took Back Control And Your Town Can Too

Matthew Brown & Rhian E Jones

Repeater Books

Following deindustrialisation, faith in local government has waned. The regeneration schemes of the nineties and since - both Tory and New Labour - were unsuccessful in that they relied heavily on the attraction of outside investment, leading to short-term boosts and leakage from the local economy. In these failures many have turned away from local government and instead await change in Westminster.

Paint Your Town Red sensitively challenges our shackles to central government, arguing local councils can, and should, play a key role in any attempt to rebuild our local economies. 'Community Wealth Building' (CWB) - principles of which have been successfully demonstrated in municipal areas from Mondragón, Basque County to Cleveland, Ohio - is the basis of such a regeneration, argue Brown and Jones, and is a model in which councils, and other 'anchor institutions', use their leverage to precipitate a 'ripple effect' of improving employment, working conditions and more democratic workplaces and councils.

Central to the book is the case of Preston City Council (of which author Matthew Brown is leader), a council which has achieved its highest employment rate and lowest levels of economic inactivity in over 15 years and was in 2018 rated the UK’s most improved city in which to live and work. This was achieved through the principles of CWB.

Detailing the improvements made in Preston and subsequent export of such strategy across the country, the authors are keen to note that 'The Preston Model' - as it's come to have been know - is not one-size-fits-all, but a robust guide which can be adapted to suit the make-up and needs of towns both nationally and globally - as the examples in Spain and the US demonstrate. Through introductions to community banking ("people's banks" and credit unions), worker co-ops and alternative forms of council budgeting, the short book provides a whistle-stop tour of municipal socialism de-mystifying huge swathes of collectivist thought and council jargon in practical and accessible steps.

For anyone of progressive intent, Paint Your Town Red is essential reading. A pragmatic and inspirational handbook, Jones and Brown prove that, unsurprisingly, what makes ethical sense also makes economic sense, and that council-driven - and community-adopted - changes can make bold change, developing resilient economies owned and operated by the people who live in them.

Out now on Repeater Books

>>> BUY HERE <<<

words by

Pete Mercer

@ptrmerc

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Paint Your Town Red - Review