02 August 2004
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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
Cover story
Exodus: the great British migration
They go to France, Spain, Canada, New Zealand and, increasingly, eastern Europe. Britons, particularly the middle classes, are leaving in greater numbers than ever before. David Nicholson-Lord reports
Features
How church schools brainwash children
A candle is lit, the curtains closed and the five-year-olds begin a session of "prayer meditation". This is an English state school in 2004. Nick Cohen reports
Feel the parsnips' pain
Patrick West, a vegetarian, argues that if we concede rights to animals, we must also allow them for vegetables
Interview
NS Interview: John Stevens interviewed by John Kampfner
The head of the Met says if people don't trust the politicians, then it's the police who have to take the lead
Regulars
The Politics Column
Politics - Mark Seddon learns of "stalking horses" against Blair
At least 59 Labour MPs are prepared to push for a leadership election, and two "stalking horses" are being canvassed. It may be enough to get those tectonic plates moving, writres Mark Seddon
Mark Thomas declines to stock up on baked beans
Anyone who wanders around the house with a government checklist during a terror attack, making sure that their tinned beans and credit cards are to hand, deserves to die. ByMark Thomas
Darcus Howe thinks Trevor McDonald isn't British
There is nothing British about Sir Trevor McDonald, except for his knighthood
Competition
Win vouchers to spend at any Tesco store
Culture
Dining room for the fat cats
Popular, respected and chic, the four-gallery Tate empire has forged an unassailable position in British culture. But is its passion for attracting corporate support at odds with its public service remit?
Chieftains of the art world
Art - As our national galleries become ever more fashionable, so do their directors. But how to tell one from the other? Genevieve Fox provides a guide to their defining features
Film
Arabian feast
Film - For the first time, the National Film Theatre is devoting a season to contemporary Arab cinema. Anna Shepherd reveals the highlights
Theatre
Michael Portillo - Don't think now
Theatre - Banish all dirty thoughts before watching this show, writes Michael Portillo Marc Salem's Mind Games Tricycle Theatre, London NW6
Film
Mark Kermode - Misogynist plot
Film - A remake that dazzles the eye and dulls the brain. By Mark Kermode The Stepford Wives (12A)
Television
Andrew Billen - Keeping it real
Television - Two documentaries with rather different approaches. By Andrew Billen Sleeping With the Au Pair (Channel 4) l'm Alright Jack (BBC2)
Books
Cross encounter
Whitefella Jump Up: the shortest way to nationhood Germaine Greer Profile Books, 192pp, £7.99 ISBN 1861977395
On the rampage
Generation Kill Evan Wright Bantam, 368pp, £12.99 ISBN 0593053478 Iraq: the borrowed kettle Slavoj Zizek Verso, 188pp, £16
My Holiday Read
In the first of a new series, Ian Rankin recalls using Tolstoy's War and Peace to fend off lions in Kenya
Tipping the velvet
Intimate Friends: women who loved women (1778-1928) Martha Vicinus University of Chicago Press, 344pp, £24.50 ISBN 0226855635
Commentary
It may be less lucrative than its British counterpart and its sponsor may be languishing in jail. But, writes George Walden, the Russian Booker Prize is still dedicated to serious literature
William Skidelsky has the perfect hangover cure
If you are hung-over, how can you feel good enough to start drinking again?
