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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KEIR STARMER’S recent visit to a Burnley plastics factory shows how Labour’s “moderates” approach politics like a kind of amateurish performance, where something called “back story” is meant to substitute for policy.
Starmer was touring the What More UK factory: they are a mid-sized firm making plastic homewares. If you own a “Wham” brand bucket, jug or other useful plastic household item it was made by their 270 or so staff.
A Guardian report tries to be positive but makes the event sound very sad. According to the paper, instead of a rousing canteen meeting with the workers, with Starmer saying what Labour could do for them, “he told his family history at length to any worker who would listen as he roamed the factory.”
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