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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Picking apart the left and right Leave arguments
JOHN ELLISON compares the Tory anti-EU case with that put forward by socialists
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 true that the opportunity we have been given to vote to remain in the European Union or to be outside it was not a direct gift to the left Leave campaign.
It was promised by Prime Minister David Cameron, as last year’s general election loomed up ahead, in the words of journalist Simon Heffer, “in order to see off Ukip.”
Cameron was at that time, suggested Heffer, not anticipating that he would have to stick to his promise, imagining instead that if the Tories did not lose the election outright, they would be partnered once more by referendum-refusing Liberal Democrats.
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Starmer sabotaged Labour with his second referendum campaign, mobilising a liberal backlash that sincerely felt progressive ideals were at stake — but the EU was then and is now an entity Britain should have nothing to do with, explains NICK WRIGHT
In the run-up to the Communist Party congress in November ROB GRIFFITHS outlines a few ideas regarding its participation in the elections of May 2026