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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Change UK’s Russian connection
SOLOMON HUGHES explains how the centrist party managed to get its own rule-breaking payments from a Russian banker
Independent Group MPs (left to right) Ann Coffey, Chuka Umunna, Chris Leslie, Gavin Shuker and Heidi Allen
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
WHATEVER happened to the unlikely lads? What became of the mould-breaking women?
When it launched, breakaway “centrist” party Change UK had incredibly good press. Newspaper pundits were impressed by Labour MPs like Chuka Umunna jumping ship to form a new party.
They called Change UK’s formation a “historic moment” and a political “tipping point.”
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JAMIE DRISCOLL’s group, Majority, with an inclusive approach and supportive training, aims to sidestep many of the problems afflicting Britain’s progressive movement
Martin Taylor, the hedge-fund multimillionaire who has poured millions into pushing Labour rightwards, helped finance Lucy Powell’s supposedly dissenting campaign — suggesting her victory was not the ‘soft-left’ rebellion some have claimed, says SOLOMON HUGHES
MAT COWARD tells the story of the eccentric founder of a short-lived but striking experiment in ‘vital democracy,’ who became best known for giving away his estate to the nation
Holding office in local government is a poisoned chalice for a party that bases its electoral appeal around issues where it has no power whatsoever, argues NICK WRIGHT