24 February 2003

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

Can Blair survive?

British PMs are hard to get rid of except at elections, and Labour leaders are almost safe for life. It's when the bombs fall that everything starts to change

By Ben Pimlott

Features

Labour activists sit on their hands

By John Kampfner

Iraqis caress their AK-47s

By Lindsey Hilsum

Rumours say the rich are on buses to Syria. Others take up arms - but against what exactly?

The Gallic spanner in the US war works

By David Lawday

France and America are almost alone these days in believing they have a civilising mission in the world. The rivalry obliges France to box above its weight

Give music a chance

By Andrew Collins

Despite Damon and Ms Dynamite, today's protest singers can't match Dylan and Lennon

Could Zimbabwe be the next Rwanda?

By Christina Lamb

Christina Lamb hears warnings of genocide as Mugabe's ministers talk openly of reducing the population and as starving children hunt for sparrows

A terrible viciousness is born

By Nick Cohen

Once, refugees were just scroungers. Now, they are also terrorists and plague carriers. As war approaches and migration grows, old British restraints are loosening

Too poor to have an accident

By David Millward

David Millward decided that socialised medicine was best after his American mother-in-law crashed her car

Regulars

New Statesman Leader

Why the moral stance fails to convince

Cristina Odone on Bianca Jagger as Mother Teresa

By Cristina Odone

How Bianca Jagger (yes, the same) became the new Mother Teresa

Darcus Howe hears black singers denouncing Blair

By Darcus Howe

Black groups now compete in singing lyrics that denounce Blair

Paul Routledge reveals a Charles Clarke gaffe

By Paul Routledge

A mysterious statement by Bat Ears, too much whining in Glasgow, and trouble in the bars

Mark Thomas asks why we are so pally with Turkey

By Mark Thomas

Tony Blair sees himself as a leader of steely resolution, but he was so rattled by the anti-war march that he looked like a man about to start on Prozac, move to Dorset and teach Pilates

Competition

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Culture

Crossing borders

By Liz Jobey

Sebastiao Salgado is one of the most celebrated photojournalists in the world. But has he made his name out of other people's misery? Liz Jobey on the economist behind the camera