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
Letting Farage the fraudster co-opt Brexit will open the door to worse
Nigel Farage’s Brexit party could outperform Labour and Tories in the European elections - we must give working-class Leave voters an alternative to oppose the rise of the far right, writes KER TESI
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
THE reasons behind the apparent success of the Brexit Party can be attributed to three main causes. The first is the strategic planning of the far right itself, the second decades of media sensationalism which have primed the ground for racist political discourse. The third, and most important, is the growing distrust in elected politicians felt by a significant part of the working-class voting electorate.
Continuously ignored by the mainstream neoliberal political establishment, the working class has also felt alienated by a significant part of the left, sidelined for sexier social justice causes than bread and roses for the worker.
Meanwhile they have been continually hammered by unemployment, low wages, grinding poverty, and a staggering lack of opportunity.
Similar stories
CLAUDIA WEBBE argues that Labour gains nothing from its adoption of right-wing stances on immigration, and seems instead to be deliberately paving the way for the far right to become an established force in British politics, as it has already in Europe
The Gala’s core message of working-class solidarity offers renewed hope and provides the antidote to the anti-worker policies of Reform UK, argues IAN LAVERY MP