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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More cronyism at the top
SOLOMON HUGHES takes a look at the background of the new Chief Inspector of Prisons, Gove protégé Charlie Taylor
NEW ROLE:
Charlie Taylor (left) pictured with then education secretary Michael Gove in 2011
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
LAST MONTH Justice Secretary Robert Buckland announced that Charlie Taylor, an Eton contemporary of David Cameron and long-running Tory special adviser, is the new Chief Inspector of Prisons.
The Prisons Inspector has to be independent of government, but Taylor’s long association with the Conservatives makes this appointment look cronyish.
Taylor was head of a small school for children with special needs in 2011 when Michael Gove employed him as a special adviser.
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It is rather strange that Labour continues to give prestigious roles to inappropriate, controversy-mired businessmen who are also major Tory donors. What could Labour possibly be hoping to get out of it, asks SOLOMON HUGHES