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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‘Official Secrets’ — where are we now?
Has anything changed since Katharine Gun’s momentous leak against the Iraq War, asks IAN SINCLAIR
Katharine Gun, whose whistleblowing 'could have stopped the war' had publication not been delayed by the Observer
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
DIRECTED by Gavin Hood and starring Keira Knightley, new film Official Secrets tells the story of Katharine Gun’s brave actions to try to stop the illegal US-UK invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Working as a translator at the secretive intelligence agency Government Communications Headquarters (GHCQ) in Cheltenham, on January 31 2003 the then 28-year-old Gun was copied in to an email from Frank Koza at the US National Security Agency (NSA).
With the US and Britain facing strong opposition at the United Nations to their aggressive stance on Iraq, Koza explained how the NSA was mounting a “dirty tricks” operation to spy on members of the UN security council, in an attempt to gain support for an invasion, and was looking for support from GCHQ.
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