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 cream of Starmer’s crop
ANDREW MURRAY gives the lowdown on the Labour rightwingers – selected with zero democratic input – attempting to parachute themselves into seats up and down the country
(left-right) Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer, deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner and shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves, at the launch event for Labour's campaign bus at Uxbridge College, while on the General Election campaign trail, June 1, 2024
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
KEIR STARMER, struggling to justify the racist axing of Faiza Shaheen as the selected Labour candidate for Chingford and Woodford Green in the general election, said that the party wanted only the “highest-quality candidates.”
The implication was that Shaheen, an acknowledged expert on inequality, was substandard. Of course, everyone understands that the real problem was her vocal pro-Palestinian views which attracted the ire of the ineffable Jewish Labour Movement.
But it raises a question — who does meet the quality threshold for Starmer?
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