13 June 2005

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

G8 protest: how far should you go?

From the Sixties going back to the suffragettes and the Levellers, Britain has a long history of rebellion, both peaceful and illegal. Richard Gott on what today's demonstrators have to learn from the past

By Richard Gott

Features

Trident: the done deal

By Robert Fox

While country, party and parliament wonder whether Britain needs nukes at all, Blair and Brown have agreed in secret. A new arsenal is on its way

1 comment

Michael Jackson: American beauty

By Joan Smith

His fantasies and desperate quest for physical transformation are a logical extension of the dream shared by millions of Americans, argues Joan Smith

When ministers trash your life's work

By Francis Beckett

In justifying its new city academies, the government loves to dwell on the perceived failure of ordinary state schools. Now outraged teachers are hitting back

Darkness on the edge of town

By Joe Moran

Once upon a time we feared that vulgar, bland suburbia was going to swamp the landscape. Now, as Joe Moran observes, we should be so lucky

Essay

NS Essay - 'To say or imply that the public is too stupid to grasp the high-minded and sophisticated ideals of the advocates of the EU is to express a profound sense of contempt towards ordinary people'

By Frank Furedi

Europe's political classes, particularly on the left, are bending over backwards to claim that no doesn't really mean no. This is an insult to democracy

1 comment

Regulars

New Statesman Leader

Addressing the car pandemic

The Politics Column

Politics - Anne McElvoy roughs up the Tories

By Anne McElvoy

The Conservatives may be seeking a leader who can tell them what they're for, but if they want power they also need someone who can take on Gordon Brown

John Pilger castigates his own trade union

By John Pilger

By accepting money from the British government, the National Union of Journalists is undermining its own independence and credibility

Darcus Howe

By Darcus Howe

A politician chooses jail and tips Trinidad towards all-out racial civil war

Mark Kermode - Oral acrobatics

By Mark Kermode

Two X-rated insights are better than a kick in the head, writes Mark Kermode Inside Deep Throat (18) Baadasssss! (15) Mr and Mrs Smith (15)

Competition

Win vouchers to spend at any Tesco store

Culture

Stone me

By Richard Cork

The Sixties psychedelic moment was liberating and outrageously sexy, its visual expression unashamedly orgasmic. Richard Cork enjoys a dreamlike trip down memory lane

Make love, not war

By Simon Wilson

Worlds apart

By Iain Simons

Video games - Forget the predictable consoles from Sony and Microsoft. Iain Simons finds a higher level in Spore

Let's get lyrical

By Dan Hancox

Poetry in music - Working on a platinum rap CD, but lacking inspiration? Dan Hancox finds help, of sorts, in the Rhymerator

Theatre

Julian Clary - Lap him up

By Julian Clary

Theatre - Ewan McGregor is good enough to swallow whole, writes Julian Clary Guys and Dolls Piccadilly Theatre, London W1

Television

Miranda Sawyer - Go-go girls

By Miranda Sawyer

Television - A religious make-over leaves us craving a little lesbian action, writes Miranda Sawyer Spirituality Shopper (Channel 4) Sugar Rush (Channel 4)

Books

Diary - Jude Kelly

By Jude Kelly

Whittling 50 books down to produce the Orange Prizewinner can feel like hacking off limbs. How ruthless that gang of three called "the other judges" can seem