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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We must resist a ‘permanent austerity’ consensus
We need to urgently put forward – and mobilise now for – policies that can actually address the depth of the crises we face, writes MATT WILLGRESS, of Labour Assembly Against Austerity
NON-OFFER: Rachel Reeves
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
THE upcoming general election takes place in the middle of the deepest cost-of-living crisis in generations, which has become a permanent cost-of-living emergency for millions.
Councils are going bust. Poverty and inequality are spiralling. Homelessness is out of control. There are regular warnings that unemployment could be set to jump dramatically. And people’s living costs just keep going up and up while wages and benefits fail to follow.
Yet there seems to be a collective denial of the depth of this social and humanitarian crisis across the front benches in Westminster.
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