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
There are as many autopsies into Theresa May’s disastrous election campaign as there are autopsy-based crime shows available to a determined TV channel-hopper.
There is an official review by Eric Pickles. Tory chief executive Mick Davis is doing his own review. Lord Ashcroft’s “grassroots” Tory website, ConservativeHome, did a huge three-part “audit” of the vote-losing campaign. Tim Ross and Tom McTague’s why-it-went-wrong book Betting the House is being excerpted and reviewed in the papers.
It’s like we have a CSI Westminster, a Tory Waking the Dead and, given the age profile of the Tory membership, a double episode by 1970s autopsy show Quincy all prodding the corpse of May’s campaign, trying to understand who killed it.
The new Scottish Parliament looks set to continue a cycle of managerial tinkering while public services face the axe, writes STEPHEN LOW
With ‘Your Party’ holding its founding conference in Liverpool this weekend, JEREMY CORBYN speaks to Morning Star editor Ben Chacko about its potential, its priorities — and a few of its controversies too
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
While Reform poses as a workers’ party, a credible left alternative rooted in working-class communities would expose their sham — and Corbyn’s stature will be crucial to its appeal, argues CHELLEY RYAN


