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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‘Speaking Truth to Power’ — and to Jess Phillips
The aspirational centrist MP has released a self-promotional book about her heroes - REUBEN BARD-ROSENBERG is unsurprised to discover it whitewashes the role of the left and co-stars turncoat Tom Watson
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
IT IS increasingly a convention, in Anglo-American politics, for those seeking high political office to put out a book.
Typically this will involve a treatise on the importance of fighting for things that are good and opposing things that are bad, a multitude of references to Martin Luther King, and recollections of things that the candidate’s mother used to say, (by which I mean homely catchphrases that are suspiciously well suited to the art of political autobiography, as opposed to stuff like: “Beto, stop pissing on the toilet seat”).
It is therefore unsurprising that, on the eve of the general election campaign, Jess Phillips has released a new work. I decided to take some time off from fixating on this fairly angsty election campaign to peruse Truth to Power: 7 Ways to Call Time on BS.
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On January 2 2014, PJ Harvey used her turn as guest editor of the Today programme to expose the realities of war, arms dealing and media complicity. The fury that followed showed how rare – and how threatening – such honesty is within Britain’s most Establishment broadcaster, says IAN SINCLAIR
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