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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If May’s Brexit deal is rejected, the fight is on to force a general election
With the PM facing catastrophe next week, our movement needs to mobilise in Parliament, in town halls, in workplaces, in communities, says BEN CHACKO
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
THERESA MAY was humiliated by MPs this week. Newsrooms and the internet were awash with people asking what “contempt of Parliament” even meant, since the offence is so unusual. And for a government to be declared in contempt of Parliament is unheard of.
We’re in uncharted territory and perhaps that’s why the immediate result of the vote seemed like an anti-climax. If governments lose the confidence of the House of Commons, they fall and, if another government can’t be cobbled together, the House is dissolved and a general election is held.
Three defeats in just over an hour on Tuesday show that the government clearly has lost control of the House. And yet MPs confined their demands to No 10 publishing the legal advice it had received on May’s Brexit deal.
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The new Scottish Parliament looks set to continue a cycle of managerial tinkering while public services face the axe, writes STEPHEN LOW
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
In the run-up to the Communist Party congress in November ROB GRIFFITHS outlines a few ideas regarding its participation in the elections of May 2026
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