Fownhope’s Heart of Oak Society traces its roots to the age of friendly societies, when communities provided their own safety net. Its anniversary celebrations reveal a tradition still very much alive, says MARK SEDDON
Latest editorial
The ‘progressive centre’ is a gift to the far right
With the soft left fixated on fighting socialist allies rather than the rising threat of fascism, Brexit is Corbyn’s chance to set a new agenda, writes CHARLEY ALLAN
ANGUS REID explains the significance of Cuba’s egalitarian in letter and spirit Family Code and the pertinent lessons it holds for democracies anywhere in the world
Special report by PEOPLE’S WORLD
NICK WRIGHT considers how the isolation of Israel and a new film on the controversial Italian communist leader are creating new reference points for Italy’s left
CARLOS MARTINEZ says Cuba’s achievements in the face of a criminal blockade are startling, but the island’s future if the United States succeeds in crushing it looks bleak
AMNON BROWNFIELD STEIN reports that far-right MPs who mobbed the event organised by Hadash may have helped raise awareness of the brutality of the Israeli right
LABOUR’S very own Lord Voldemort has returned. “He who cannot be named” — the party actually suspends members who use “Blairite” as an insult — is back. And with typical contempt for popular opinion, our ex-PM has put blocking Brexit at the top of his agenda.
Busy setting up shiny new offices near Westminster, Tony Blair told the New Statesman last week that leaving the EU “can be stopped if the British people decide that, having seen what it means, the pain-gain cost-benefit analysis doesn’t stack up.”
But of course, no-one can see what Brexit “means” until it actually happens. Blair just wants to scare us into a second referendum — something even the majority of Remainers are against, according to YouGov polling.
Similar stories
Italians reject controversial judiciary reforms in a referendum that boosts the left, reports NICK WRIGHT
Starmer sabotaged Labour with his second referendum campaign, mobilising a liberal backlash that sincerely felt progressive ideals were at stake — but the EU was then and is now an entity Britain should have nothing to do with, explains NICK WRIGHT
While Reform poses as a workers’ party, a credible left alternative rooted in working-class communities would expose their sham — and Corbyn’s stature will be crucial to its appeal, argues CHELLEY RYAN