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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The ever narrowing gap between money and war
SOLOMON HUGHES investigates the ‘business friendly’ reforms which have put banking, oil and management consultancy executives into positions of power in the MoD
Defence Secretary Gavin WIlliamson sits inside Lancaster Bomber
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
WHO is in charge of our armed forces? Well, thanks to "business friendly” reforms, bankers, management consultants and oil firm executives are.
In 2010 the Tory-Lib Dem coalition created “Whitehall Boards” — groups of business executives who serve as “non-executive directors” of each department, including the Ministry of Defence (MoD).
These boards were created by then Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude in order “to make government operate in a more businesslike manner.”
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