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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Germany’s crisis of working-class politics
In the recent federal elections the far-right AfD was able to reach sections of the working class on issues over which the left is divided and unable to articulate a coherent position, a situation that is replicated in a number of other European countries, argues NICK WRIGHT
A man stands in front of the logo at the far-right AfD party headquarters in Berlin, Germany, February 23, 2025, after the German national election
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
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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
WHILE attention is focused on the rise of the right-wing populist Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD) — and liberal opinion in Britain anxiously parses the difference and similarities of this peculiarly German formation with our own home grown Reform UK — the collapse of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) is the issue exercising Labour MPs.
In the German election the big winner in terms of voter gains is the AfD — with 20.8 per cent it almost doubled its number of voters — while the conservative Christian Democrat/Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) increased its vote by 4.4 per cent to total 28.6 per cent. This makes its aggressively right-wing leader Friedrich Merz almost certain to replace the SPD’s Olaf Scholz as chancellor.
The SPD clocked up its worst result in a federal election and its largest loss, eventually winning a humiliating 16.4 per cent.
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