Unsafe Places

Leader: Back to the future

The choice posed by Boris Johnson between higher wages and labour shortages is a false one.

Letter of the week: The future lies in the East

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The gulf between Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak should worry the Tories

The Chancellor is an old-fashioned Conservative who would fit more comfortably in the Cameron era than Johnson’s post-Brexit cabinet…

As China stumbles, the West must ask: what if its rise is not inevitable?

As Beijing reckons with corporate excess, power cuts and a rapidly ageing population, the image of an ever-mightier China…

Keir Starmer has sidelined his party’s left. But does Labour really want to win?

With no core vote to rely on, if Starmer fails to make the necessary reforms Labour will never re-enter…

The Met Police is in disgrace – but its problems are decades in the making

Public distrust in the police goes much deeper than the terrible murder of Sarah Everard.

Why this decade will prove more challenging than the 1970s

Politics is becoming a ruthless contest over who can access energy and at what price.

Steve Richards’ Diary: Joining the veterans’ club, the lessons of the political past, and why “future leaders” fail

When I joined the New Statesman aged 34, I was called “youthful”. Now my tendency to reflect on the…

“We have to answer the questions Brexit raised”: Michel Barnier on the EU and why he wants to lead France

The former EU chief Brexit negotiator warns that Europe needs to change before it dies. Will anybody listen?

What the army can teach us about leadership

A commander illuminates the wisdom and moral courage that produces the best leaders.

Jonathan Franzen’s bland late style

In Crossroads, the American novelist aims for “transparent” but ends up colourless.

Reviewed in short: New books by Anil Seth, Tove Jansson and Tuulikki Pietilä, Gavin Barwell and Stanley Tucci

Being You by Seth, Notes from an Island by Jansson and Pietilä, Chief of Staff by Barwell and Taste…

Making the rules of government

Modern constitutions were produced not by liberal ideals but by the demands of war.

The double life of Ian Rankin

The crime writer on alter-egos, Scottish independence and why he refused to meet Ian Brady.

In No Time To Die, James Bond is a well-behaved family man

It is remarkable proof of Daniel Craig’s charisma that he can make this regretful saint work as an action…

BBC One drama Ridley Road inadvertently glamourises neo-Nazis

The script strains predictably hard for parallels with our own times, and therefore takes the National Socialist Movement far…

The Curious Cases of Rutherford and Fry is intellectual escapism

Adam Rutherford and Hannah Fry investigate everyday scientific mysteries in expert yet accessible detail.

Whether you like yours mild, bitter or bright pink, it’s time to revive the turnip

This humble vegetable has struggled to shake off its association with miserable school dinners; but with rich spices it…

Covid has aged us, but a seaside sundae makes me feel ten years old again

On a trip to Kent, I discover plenty of literary references – and a new zest for life.

In Edinburgh, I find both the perfect pub and the world’s most objectionable drunk

The man waves a bottle of beer at us and tries to climb over the railings. He is at…

From Cristiano Ronaldo to Jamie Vardy, today’s strikers will do anything to endure

A few decades ago, a professional footballer was considered old at 28. Now at 30, instead of sliding down…

This England: Guiding star

This column – which, though named after a line in Shakespeare’s Richard II, refers to the whole of Britain…

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Kathryn Mannix Q&A: “A life in death has taught me to make the most of here and now”

The palliative care doctor on seizing the moment, Strictly, and how to keep chickens.