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
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This government is attacking all of us — it’s time to fight back
We have had enough of normalising foodbank use, normalising school holiday hunger in our kids and accepting the rich getting richer while we suffer, says MARY KELLY FOY MP
The picket line outside Liverpool Lime Street station as members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) take part in a fresh strike over jobs, pay and conditions. Picture date: Wednesday July 27, 2022.
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
EARLIER this week we saw Liz Truss announce her new flagstream policy — to cut the wages of anyone in the public sector that doesn’t live and work in south-east England.
Rishi Sunak of course is no better than Truss — while they tear chunks out of each other, neither of them has an actual plan to help our communities.
Just last week we saw evidence that despite their levelling-up promises and empty rhetoric, the reality is that the gap in public spending between northern England and London doubled between 2019-21 — growing from a difference of £1,513 to £3,008 per person, according to the Institute for Public Policy Research.
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Roger McKenzie talks to general secretary of Unison CHRISTINA McANEA about the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on members, the local government funding emergency and the threat of Reform UK
We cannot refuse to abolish the unjustifiable two-child benefit cap that pushes children into poverty while finding billions of pounds for defence spending — the membership and the public expect better from Labour, writes JON TRICKETT MP
Climate justice and workers’ rights movements are uniting to make the rich pay for our transition to a green economy, writes assistant general secretary of PCS JOHN MOLONEY, ahead of a major demonstration on September 20
