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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Tories may want to, but can’t cull us like badgers
The Paddy McGuffin column
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
There are some words and phrases in the English language, rich, vibrant and spectacularly convoluted as it is, whose meaning can oscillate wildly depending on the context in which they are delivered.
On the face of it they can appear wholly innocuous, and in most circumstances they are.
“Trust me, I’m a doctor,” for example. If you are stuck in a car wreck or stretched out on an operating table those words are full of reassurance and exude professionalism. If, however, you happen to be manacled to a cellar wall and the individual in question has just laid out an array of sharp implements with ne’er an anaesthesiologist in sight…
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