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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We need an industrial strategy that will deliver real change
Only a progressive Labour government committed to a radical economic vision will bring about the secure, sustainable jobs that Britain needs, writes LEN McCLUSKEY
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn (centre) with members of his shadow cabinet following a shadow cabinet meeting at the Lowry Theatre in The Quays in Salford, Manchester, last week
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
OUR COUNTRY is in the grip of a manufacturing emergency. Manufacturing’s share of national economic output stood at 27 per cent in 1970, but by 2017 it was just 10 per cent.
Over the last 30 years, service sector output rose by 97 per cent, and by 2017 it was 79 per cent of the economy, up from 69 per cent in 1990. By September last year, services accounted for 83 per cent of workforce jobs.
In the three months to June, production contracted by 1.4 per cent, and even though services growth was far smaller than it has been, there was still growth.
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