12 August 2002

From the Editor…

Welcome to the New Statesman website. Whether you are a new reader or an existing one - online or via the magazine - I hope you'll enjoy the great writing, fresh ideas and provocative debate that make the New Statesman Britain's award-winning current affairs weekly

Jason Cowley, Editor, New Statesman

Cover story

The Wrong War

If they are so sure that an attack on Iraq is warranted, why doesn't our government debate the issue properly, asks Tony Lloyd MP

By Tony Lloyd MP

Features

Stop aping the US, Gordon

By Faisal Islam

Don't worry about productivity. Britain's economy is simply different

Doves don't take on hawks and win

By John Kampfner

Is Tony Blair flattering himself that he can rein in George Bush's lust for war? John Kampfner reports on the behind the scenes power struggle

Fighting is a last resort

By A C Grayling

Aquinas defined the just war. Few conflicts have ever met his criteria

The rebels who changed their tune to be pundits

By Nick Cohen

They were once proud Marxists. Today, they are media-friendly Tory extremists. Meet the Revolutionary Communist Party that was

Who wants to be a mother?

By Lindsey Hilsum

Who wants to be a mother? Some jobs are not compatible with bringing up children. Lindsey Hilsum believes she made the right choice

The business of apartheid

By Bryan Rostron

The role of multinational corporations and banks under South Africa's racist regime is finally coming to light. Some would rather it didn't. Bryan Rostron reports from Cape Town

Blackpool boom and bust

By Saul Margo

Gambling in a family resort? England's Golden Mile takes a flutter on its reputation

Regulars

New Statesman Leader

Why Tony Blair needs Michael Meacher

Darcus Howe worries for his son

By Darcus Howe

My son is unsafe in a country where dismal economics are turning everyone to crime

Competition

Win vouchers to spend at any Tesco store

Culture

They think it's all over

By Elaine Showalter

The tradition of lad-lit, from Kingsley to Martin Amis, reached fever pitch with the insecure, introspective anti-heroes of the 1990s. But has the genre come to an end, asks Elaine Showalter

Indian summer - Bombay takeaway

By Kamila Shamsie

Kamila Shamsie on the British appetite for a taste of inauthentic India

Edinburgh festival - Sex and violence

By Johann Hari

Johann Hari on how the Fringe has rediscovered politics and pornography

Film

Film - Talking about a revolution

By Philip Kerr

Philip Kerr on a bleak and unforgiving portrait of rural life in modern China

Television

Television - A Bilko for our times

By Andrew Billen

Andrew Billen laughs till he weeps at the antics of Peter Kay

Books

Lytton Strachey's elegant, energetic character assassinations destroyed for ever the pretensions of the Victorian age to moral supremacy. By Roy Hattersley

By Roy Hattersley

Eminent Victorians: the definitive edition Lytton Strachey, foreword by Frances Partridge, introduction by Paul Levy Continuum, 315pp, £18.99 ISBN 0826459641