Britain’s fiscal fantasies
Rather than address a broken public realm and long-term economic stagnation, the Conservatives have chosen to prioritise tax cuts.
ByThe Magazine
In this week’s issue
Bust Britain
Letter of the week: Reframing farming
Write to [email protected] to have your thoughts voiced in the New Statesman magazine.
By
The Chancellor’s biggest budget giveaway is to his own re-election campaign
Your weekly dose of gossip from around Westminster.
By
Inside the Royal Society of Literature’s civil war
Amid allegations of censorship, secrecy and elitism, the 300-year-old institution is tearing itself apart.
By
Michael Sheen: Why Kemi Badenoch is wrong about Port Talbot
The actor on arguing with the Tory MP, going on stage in pyjamas, and his new series The Way.
By
Steve Reed: “Farmers feel shafted by this government”
The shadow environment secretary on what voters want and how to make Labour the “party of the countryside”.
By
Rishi Sunak’s paranoid talk of “extremists” is dangerous for us all
Fringe politicians from George Galloway to the hard right are trying make Islamism a big election issue. For decency…
By
Alabama’s IVF ruling criminalises women’s bodies
The state’s Supreme Court has decided that frozen embryos are people – with absurd consequences.
By
The narcotopian dilemma
Why liberal societies are helpless in the face of the global illegal drugs trade.
By
Sadiq Khan’s silent city
London is no “24-hour city”. It struggles to stay up beyond midnight.
By
Why the Home Office manipulated the news
No wonder the ministerial department sneaked out its immigration reports. They are damning.
By
Bust Britain
As more councils go bankrupt, the nation’s public realm is dying. How did it come to this?
By
The economic consequences of the miners’ strike
The NUM’s defeat in 1985 marked the end of the social democratic era – and the creation of the…
By
The “Disney adult” industrial complex
The grown-up Disney superfan has become a much-mocked phenomenon online. But creating these consumers was always part of the…
By
Where the wild things were
Reintroducing wolves, boar and other lost wildlife to Britain is about enriching human lives as well as preserving nature.
By
Britain’s new oligarchy
Tom Burgis’s Cuckooland shows how the power to shape our politics is available to the highest bidder.
By
The case against therapy in schools
A provocative new book argues that the therapy industry is exacerbating our children’s mental health crisis.
By
From John Berger to Jenny Kleeman: new books reviewed in short
Also featuring Power Up by Yasmin Ali and Ghost Pains by Jessica Jezewska Stevens.
By
How Vice lost the future
The media company seemed too good to be true. It was.
By
Origin: an awkward adaptation of complex race theory
Ava DuVernay’s take on Isabel Wilkerson’s Caste is a lesson in the history of prejudice – and the perils…
By
Mary & George is improbable, overblown and really quite rude
Despite its melodrama and cliches, this series about sex in the royal bedchamber is just a little bit mesmerising.
By
The larger-than-life choreography of (LA)Horde
The collective’s eclectic, unconventional productions somehow work.
By
Robbie Robertson’s sounds of America
In the Sixties, the Canadian musician defined Americana. On his score for Killers of the Flower Moon, he blew…
By
Nostalgia reveals nature’s true value
A sentimental perspective helps identify those essential creatures and habitats we have carelessly lost.
By
Child vaccination uptake is falling once again
The current wave of measles cases can be traced back to the cost-of-living crisis and cuts in NHS health…
By
As a deadline approaches, I become a master of distraction
The problem with being paid upfront is that one feels the work has somehow magically been done already.
By
I’ve learned to love the Disaster House. But will it love me back?
When we moved in there was a sadness in the crumbling walls. Now, the house seems able to breathe…
By
This England: To Enderby and beyond
This column – which, though named after a line in Shakespeare’s “Richard II”, refers to the whole of Britain…
ByPlease email [email protected] if you would like to be featured.
By
Sam Carr Q&A: “We die and are reborn many times”
The psychologist on Jung, Michael Jordan, and what Knight Rider tells us about life’s journey.
By