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
Prison officers pile on the pressure
Tory austerity triggered a crisis in our jails and only a decisive break from the past can turn this around, explains STEVE GILLAN
HMP Barlinnie in Glasgow, October 16, 2013
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
LIKE every other trade union leader in Britain, I’m looking forward very much to the first TUC conference in 15 years under a Labour government.
A decade-and-a-half of cruel Tory austerity has devastated our public services — and prisons are no exception.
The overcrowding crisis has been all over the news but, as I wrote in these pages last month, this is just the tip of the prisons iceberg.
Similar stories
Our members face serious violence, crumbling workplaces and exposure to dangerous drugs — it is outrageous we still cannot legally use our industrial muscle to fight back and defend ourselves, writes STEVE GILLAN
Labour must not allow unelected members of the upper house to erode a single provision of the Employment Rights Bill, argues ANDY MCDONALD MP
Mental health fears push Peers to change law on IPP torture sentences, reports Charley Allan