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
NATO’s Madrid conference feels like a war summit. Despite recent statements from Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky and from Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg himself that the war in Ukraine would have to end in negotiations, the mood has changed.
In Madrid there has been no talk of diplomacy, no discussion of moves to peace, only preparations for war.
Every summit announces a “strategic concept.” This time the conference really marks a historic reshaping of the West’s military posture.
In Washington, the willingness to accept an open war with Russia is growing — at Europe’s expense. While Nato states are being drawn into confrontation, Europe risks becoming the battlefield of a potential world war, warns SEVIM DAGDELEN
While 69 per cent of Ukrainians want negotiated peace, Western leaders are cynically prolonging the war for their own strategic and economic goals, to the immense detriment of Ukraine and Europe, write BOB ORAM and MAGGIE SIMPSON
Washington plays innocent bystander while pouring weapons and intelligence into Ukraine, just as it enables the Gaza genocide — but every US escalation leaves Ukraine weaker than the neutrality deal rejected in 2022, argue MEDEA BENJAMIN and NICOLAS JS DAVIES


