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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The liberal press is not as left-wing as it likes to think
CHRIS WILLIAMSON MP is so dismayed at the Guardian he’s taken up mindfulness
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
DISSATISFACTION with the coverage of the Labour Party by the mainstream media is not a new phenomenon. Misleading headlines and downright lies have been an occupational hazard for Labour supporters, stretching back to 1924 and beyond, when the Daily Mail published the fraudulent “Zinoviev letter,” four days before a general election.
But when I joined the Labour Party in 1976, there were certain mainstream outlets which had a reputation for fairness and balanced reporting.
The Guardian was one such publication and I used to luxuriate over reading it after it was recommended to me by longstanding party members.
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Labour councillor PAUL DONOVAN wonders why the right-wing party gets so much more media attention than it seems to merit
At the very moment Britain faces poverty, housing and climate crises requiring radical solutions, the liberal press promotes ideologically narrow books while marginalising authors who offer the most accurate understanding of change, writes IAN SINCLAIR