A state in disrepair
Crumbling schools exemplify an age of private affluence and public squalor.
ByThe Magazine
In this week’s issue
Crumbling Britain
Letter of the week: Wealth and learning
Write to [email protected] to have your thoughts voiced in the New Statesman magazine.
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Lisa Nandy fails to take Starmer’s reshuffle hint
Your weekly dose of gossip from around Westminster.
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How Conservative complacency left schools to rot
In 2003 Labour aimed to refurbish all of England’s secondary schools, but in 2010 the Tories dropped the project.
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The Sunak-Modi bilateral
Also this week: the G20 summit that saved the world and the beating heart of England.
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Naomi Klein’s mirror world
The writer and activist on being mistaken for a conspiracy theorist.
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Economic orthodoxy is a trap
The big prize in politics will be won by the leader who breaks with the existing order.
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The parallels between Argentina and Britain’s inept political class
Over the past few decades, both countries have experienced near financial catastrophe at the hands of reckless leaders.
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Why we should be worried by the new Covid wave
With the emergence of a highly mutated Omicron variant, policies for controlling the virus deserve our renewed attention.
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How Vittles trolled London
The newsletter seems to hold its readers in low esteem.
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The great crack-up
We inhabit an economy too small to deliver the social goods British people expect.
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Churchill and the quest for greatness
Throughout his career, Britain’s wartime prime minister studied how other leaders – Roosevelt, Attlee, Stalin and Gandhi – exercised…
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The realists were right
As the much-hyped counteroffensive against Russian forces stalls, the West is asking hard questions about the war in Ukraine.
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Homer’s history of violence
Emily Wilson’s translation of the Iliad reveals a bleak vision of the self-interest and savagery of humankind.
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The NS Poem: Against Resting in Peace
A poem by Gboyega Odubanjo.
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Still fighting the history wars
Debates about Britain’s colonial legacy are not just a product of Brexit or woke politics – empire has always…
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A comic story of Britain
This history of comedy contains much moralising – but the best creations transcend the monstrousness of their characters.
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From Yiyun Li to Wolfram Eilenberger: new books reviewed in short
Also featuring Kenneth W Harl’s history of nomadic tribes and Redstone Press’s Seeing Things.
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Anne Enright’s damaged lives
In The Wren, The Wren, the Irish author rigorously traces the line between love and trauma.
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Evelyn Waugh is laughing at you
His lethally coherent worldview still turns reality into a farce.
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Heaven in Essex
Why a church in Harlow New Town has been recognised for its architectural importance.
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Celine Song’s Past Lives and the trap of autobiographical art
This debut film of lost love is full of material that is clearly important to her. Why should it…
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The delightful farce of The Lovers
Johnny Flynn is a joy to watch in this newsroom comedy from Sky Atlantic.
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The Immortals takes a sceptical look at “longevity research”
This series tracks attempts at immortality from vampire myths to a global industry now worth $25bn. Is it any…
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The bitter-sweet beauty of late summer gardening
As the gloom and magic of autumn looms, another season of the year sneaks out the door.
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A weekend camping included fresh air and menacing children
As we walked to a pub, a group of boys and girls emerged to yell at us – and…
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Even a mod rally couldn’t lift my AI-induced downer
When a friend told ChatGPT to write an article in my style, I first found it mildly amusing –…
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This England: Bog standards
This column – which, though named after a line in Shakespeare’s “Richard II”, refers to the whole of Britain…
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Elaine Kasket’s Q&A: “I used to believe my job was immune to automation”
The psychologist on Sea State by Tabitha Lasley, Andrew Yang and regulating Big Tech.
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