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
Thousands tell Amber Rudd to #ScraptheLetters
67,000 signatories are calling on the Department for Work and Pensions to stop sending GPs letters claiming that their patients do not need a ‘fi t note’, writes PHIL MILLER
Ella Abraham
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
ANTI-POVERTY campaigners have notched up an astonishing 67,000 signatories to a petition calling on Amber Rudd’s department to stop sending misleading letters to doctors about welfare claimants.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) are sending GPs letters claiming that their patients do not need a “fit note” anymore because they have been found fit for work.
Campaigners say this letter is leaving severely ill and disabled claimants unable to obtain Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) to which they are entitled pending appeal.
Similar stories
DYLAN MURPHY reports that far from helping people back into work, the sanctions regime is inflicting unnecessary trauma on working-class families
