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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A look back to the Euro referendum of 1975
KEITH FLETT recalls Tony Benn’s leading role in the Leave campaign 41 years ago
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
THE EU referendum on June 23 is not the first that has been held on the issue in Britain, although most would probably be hard-pressed to recall when the earlier one was.
Tony Benn’s diary for the period provides a detailed account of events. Thatcher’s archive at the Thatcher Foundation, by contrast, disappoints. There are no personal papers from 1975.
Of the left campaign, the standard reference book by David Butler and Uwe Kitzinger does reproduce one poignant cartoon from the Morning Star, which shows two No voters on referendum day commenting that it was the first time they had had a chance to vote against all three main parties at the same time.
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