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
Latest editorial
The Progress fringe programme backed by Tory businessmen
by SOLOMON HUGHES
Emoov founder and Tory councillor Russell Quirk, who Progress invited to speak at one of its fringe events, poses by a pile of bricks beside a house for some reason
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
PROGRESS, the New Labour faction inside the party, organised not one but two fringe meetings sponsored by Tory-run companies at this year’s conference in Liverpool.
Progress’s desire to have expensive catered events in a smart, central hall at the conference means it relies heavily on “sponsors” to fund its meetings.
Six of its nine fringe meetings had some kind of corporate sponsorship. It seems Progress doesn’t mind if these sponsors are run by Conservative activists.
Similar stories
Witnessing a war of words at a meeting on tackling militarism at The World Transformed, BEN COWLES spoke to a union rep who is organising against war from inside the arms industry itself, to hear about worker-led solutions to ending weapons production
CLIVE HASWELL introduces the latest edition of Cardiff’s left-wing conference, which will take a broad and non-sectarian approach to who the left should vote for, welcoming approaches from all major progressive parties that hope to transform the world
SOLOMON HUGHES asks whether Labour ‘engaging with decision-makers’ with scandalous records of fleecing the public is really in our interests
Durham Miners’ Association general secretary ALAN MARDGHUM speaks to Ben Chacko ahead of Gala Day 2025