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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TUC Congress 2015: We're ready for the battle of our lives
FRANCES O'GRADY tells the Star the TUC and the hundreds of thousands of workers it represents won’t take a bad Bill lying down
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
Interview by Joana Ramiro
FRANCES LORRAINE O’GRADY stands up from her desk and comes to greet me. She tells me she remembers me from the last time we met, at last year’s Trades Union Congress (TUC) “Britain needs a pay rise” demonstration. Last time we met we took a picture together. I said she was “amazeballs.” I hope she doesn’t remember that.
O’Grady is the first female leader of the TUC. The first thing you notice about her is that she fully in control of her environment. After 10 years as the organisation’s deputy general secretary and now two at the helm, she knows her unions in and out.
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