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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What do Jennie Formby’s stats tell us about anti-semitism in the Labour Party?
The figures released by the general secretary about allegations of Labour anti-semitism don’t make comfortable reading for those trying to whip up a storm about anti-Jewish sentiment, says DAVID ROSENBERG
Labour general secretary Jennie Formby
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
READING about the angry demands of a small number of right-wing PLP members towards Labour’s general secretary Jennie Formby over the contested claims around Labour and anti-semitism gave me a flashback to the early 1980s.
At that time I was working as a van driver for Central Books (the Communist Party book distribution company).
I had to deliver a couple of boxes to the CP Congress when this happened: on the floor of Congress, as I arrived, an irate questioner was on his feet, bellowing a question at the chair of that session.
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