How we live now with the nation’s sweetheart Dame Vera Lynn

In this week’s magazine:

• It’s time to meet again with Dame Vera Lynn. In a revealing Letter To My Younger Self, the World War II icon talks community and history as she looks back on her remarkable life at the age of 102. She tells The Big Issue: “We can’t change the past but of course, we can learn from history.”
• Do you have any idea how many housing ministers there have been since 2010? There has been quite the revolving door in the role with Esther McVey the latest to take up the reins. We assess the runners and riders from the past decade and look at what they achieved in their (usually quite short) tenure
• One woman, one boat, thousands of lives: How Pia Klemp could be facing jail for helping refugees in the Mediterranean
• Revealing the realities of holiday hunger: One mother speaks of her battle to feed her kids over the summer