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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The far-right are more dangerous than you think
Ukip might be portrayed as a gang of clowns, but the party and its continental equivalents are poised to clean up in the Euro polls, writes STEVEN WALKER
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
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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
he BBC3 documentary EDL Girls, screened earlier this month, is another illustration of how far extreme right political parties have travelled in recent years.
Recent events in Ukraine have been largely portrayed as a popular democratic success rather than the appointment of an unelected government containing a large number of neonazi and anti-semitic parties.
And while the mainstream media might call Nigel Farage and Ukip "loonies and fruitcakes," portraying Ukip members as a fringe minority of eccentric and open misogynists and racists as caricatures, the truth is far more sinister.
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CJ ATKINS commemorates one of the most dramatic moments in working-class history
Once again Tower Hamlets is being targeted by anti-Islam campaigners, this time a revamped and radicalised version of Ukip — the far-right event is now banned by the police, but we’ll be assembling this Saturday to make sure they stay away, says JAYDEE SEAFORTH
The ban on Maccabi Tel Aviv fans was based on evidence of a pattern of violence and hatred targeting Arabs and Muslims, two communities that have a large population in Birmingham — overturning the ban was tacit acceptance of the genocidal ideology the fans espouse, argues CLAUDIA WEBBE
RON JACOBS welcomes a book that tells the story of the far right in Greece from the perspective of migrants