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
Tory sidekick’s spectacular memory loss
The Lib Dems were more than willing partners in Tory austerity policies that brought Britain to its knees and their present offer is an attempt to hoodwink the gullible among the electorate
COUNTING ON SHORT MEMORIES: Jo Swinson (centre) and Lib Dems education spokesperson Layla Moran meet Bournemouth College marine technology students
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
WHAT does the Lib Dem’s 2010-2015 coalition with the Tories tell us about the party? The Lib Dems say they were trying to blunt the Tory axe, defending people from their worst cuts. But is this true?
Confronted with her own votes for benefit cuts during the Tory-Lib Dem coalition on the election BBC Question Time Special, Jo Swinson apologised, saying “we did not get everything right.”
Swinson has apologised before. On becoming Lib Dem leader in 2018, she said “We lost too many arguments” with the Tories because “when they fought dirty, we were too nice.”
But was Swinson and the Lib Dem support for austerity a “mistake”? Did Swinson “fight” and “argue” with the Tories on cuts?
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