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
Latest editorial
Time to unite against monopoly capitalism and war
KEVAN NELSON considers the international context that has shaped Communist Party policy as it prepares for its 57th congress in November
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
IN 1977 the 35th congress of the Communist Party was the subject of a fly-on-the-wall documentary produced by Granada TV. It was screened in three parts on national television the following year and revealed a party torn apart by ideological divisions about the party programme. It exposed vitriolic hostility in some quarters towards the Soviet Union as it approached the 60th anniversary of the October Revolution.
There is little chance that such disunity will be on display at the upcoming 57th congress of the Communist Party in early November 2023.
The executive committee’s resolution “For a united front against monopoly capitalism and war” sets out the party’s position on a wide range of international questions, notably the long-running conflict in Ukraine and the emergence of the new cold war against China.
Similar stories
Campaigners from across the continent will gather in Brussels on June 14 to oppose Europe’s accelerating militarisation and cuts to public services, write MAGGIE SIMPSON and BOB ORAM of No Cold War Britain
KEVAN NELSON reports back from a delegation to the epic celebrations for the anniversary of Vietnam’s 1945 revolution, where British communists found a thriving, prosperous socialist country, brimming with ambition and well-earned national pride
In an address to the Communist Party’s executive at the weekend international secretary KEVAN NELSON explained why the communists’ watchwords must be Jobs not Bombs and Welfare not Warfare