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
Jim Ratcliffe – a man who won’t be missed
Britain’s richest man Jim Ratcliffe
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
SIR JIM RATCLIFFE, a BBC News profile said in May, “champions the unloved.”
But fortunately for the Ineos boss — who is now moving to the tax haven of Monaco — few are more unloved than himself. Ratcliffe, Britain’s richest man, has amassed a fortune of £21 billion, according to this year’s Sunday Times Rich List.
Meanwhile, he is best known in Scotland for his savage union-busting campaign at the Grangemouth refinery in Falkirk. In 2013 Ineos hounded out Unite convener Stevie Deans, on the pretext that he had used his company email address to campaign for Karie Murphy’s selection as Labour candidate in Falkirk.
Similar stories
The plot to build a lavish Dubai-style luxury development where the rich can sun themselves on top of the mass graves of thousands is one of the most bizarre and twisted ideas to come out of the genocide in Gaza, writes ROGER McKENZIE
As bus builder Alexander Dennis threatens Falkirk closure and Grangemouth faces ruthless shutdown by tax exile Jim Ratcliffe, RICHARD LEONARD MSP warns that global corporations must be resisted by a bold industrial strategy based on public ownership