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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Rail privatisation isn’t working
RMT president ALEX GORDON says privatised railways stand exposed as unable to deliver safe, reliable public transport, or the modal shift from road to rail that our planet needs
The first named train as part of the London North Eastern Railway (LNER) Azuma fleet on the East Coast route, is liveried at Bounds Green Depot in London, May 15, 2023
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
PRIVATE companies now run less of our rail network than at any time since Tory rail privatisation began in 1993.
Of 17 passenger train operators across Britain, seven are run by the Department for Transport’s Operator of Last Resort or its equivalent in Wales and Scotland, three by foreign state-owned companies, and three by joint ventures that include foreign state-owned companies. Only four train operators are now run by private companies.
Rail privatisation was sold to the public as a way to bring competition, innovation and investment from the private sector. A total illusion, of course.
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The HS2 debacle exposes what happens when public infrastructure is handed to private contractors – especially when set against China’s state-led high-speed rail success, says CARLOS MARTINEZ
Two-hundred years ago, on September 27 1825, the world’s first passenger railway line was opened between Stockton and Darlington. MICK WHELAN, general secretary of Aslef, the train drivers’ union, reflects on the history – and the future – of Britain’s railway industry
