Gloucestershire’s phlebotomists have brought their historic strike to a close after almost a year of action, leaving a legacy of determination – and a clear lesson about the power of solidarity in the face of anti-union laws and austerity, says FBU general secretary STEVE WRIGHT
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The language of flowers
PETER FROST takes a sideways look at what flowers mean, and not just on Valentine’s Day
With more people dying each year and many spending their final days in institutions, researchers argue that wider access to palliative care could offer a more humane and cost-effective alternative, write ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT
While public outrage has focused on the abuse committed within Jeffrey Epstein’s orbit, key questions remain unresolved, says JOHN GREEN
In the second part of her critique of Wes Streeting’s TenYear Plan for Health, HELEN MERCER looks at the central planks of this privatisation blueprint
Tens of thousands of students left their classrooms and took to the streets against conscription and rising military spending. NICK WRIGHT reports from Berlin
A call from the World Peace Council to the peace movements of the world
THESE days, Valentine’s Day is a huge boost to the floristry, greetings card and chocolate industries.
Most of it is a rip-off but it did get me thinking — perhaps it was all the cards, bouquets and boxes of chocolates that have arrived at home recently. Thanks, readers.
The Victorians sent gifts of blooms, plants and specific floral arrangements that were used to send a coded message to the recipient, allowing the sender to express feelings which could not be spoken aloud in prim Victorian society.
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This is poetry in paint, spectacular but never spectacle for its own sake, writes JAN WOOLF
JESSICA WIDNER explores how the twin themes of violence and love run through the novels of South Korean Nobel prize-winner Han Kang
JOHN GREEN surveys the remarkable career of screenwriter Malcolm Hulke and the essential part played by his membership of the Communist Party