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
HERE we are, approaching Brexit — maybe even a “no deal.”
Ministers say they are ready to break the law. Yet the huge political movement that “fought Brexit” has just disappeared.
The well-funded “people’s vote” organisations that put on stunts, churned out commentary and spoon-fed opinion polls to a very supportive press have gone quiet.
Martin Taylor, the hedge-fund multimillionaire who has poured millions into pushing Labour rightwards, helped finance Lucy Powell’s supposedly dissenting campaign — suggesting her victory was not the ‘soft-left’ rebellion some have claimed, says SOLOMON HUGHES
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
VINCE MILLS cautions over the perils and pitfalls of ‘a new left party’
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


