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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With our banners still held high
PETER LAZENBY introduces the 2023 edition of West Yorkshire's ever-growing celebration of the labour movement that grew out of the 30th anniversary of the miners' strike
The traditional march from Smyth Street in Wakefield on Saturday morning will include a pipe band, a samba band and a silver band, and will culminate in the main part of the festival with stalls lining Wood Street where speeches and music, food and drink, will be part of the celebrations. Photo: Neil Terry Photography/WBHH
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
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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
TRADE UNION banners will be proudly raised and marched through Wakefield in West Yorkshire on Saturday May 13 for the annual With Banners Held High festival.
The festival is a celebration of trade unionism and working people, inspired by the miners’ strike against pit closures of 1984-85, which has its 40th anniversary next year.
The first festival took place on the 30th anniversary of the strike and the event has become one of the north’s key celebrations of the labour movement.
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