20 February 2006

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

Talking to terrorists

Secret documents show the Foreign Office is ready to risk international fury by opening a dialogue with Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood

By Martin Bright

Features

Muhammad and Python

By Samir El-Youssef

Poking fun at the Prophet is pointless, writes Samir El-Youssef. The satire would be better directed at earthly religious powers

Cartoons in the crossfire

What are the limits of satire in Muslim cultures? The NS invited Arab cartoonists to explore the boundaries of free speech in imagery

Send this man straight to jail

By Roger Boyes

David Irving, facing trial in Austria, has been tolerated for far too long. He is not the sad oddball some think; he is a threat to civilised society

Karl, China needs you

By Isabel Hilton

Just when it seemed it was all over for Marx, the Chinese Communist Party has had a spectacular change of heart

Grease is the word

By Katharine Quarmby

You may have thought junk food had been banned from schools. Well think again, because behind the scenes big business is fighting back

Essay

NS Essay - 'Are there really little grey men sitting in secret offices, deciding on the precise language they will use to bamboozle the public? As it happens, there are'

By Steven Poole

Left and right alike promote their interests by coining phrases which often insinuate meanings that bear no relation to the original words. Beware this Unspeak, warns Steven Poole

Regulars

New Statesman Leader

It's not who comes after Blair, but what

Gordon Brown has no choice but to wait. But he can still use the time profitably to carve out an agenda that is distinctive and uplifting

The Politics Column

The politics column - Neal Lawson wants less caution from Gordon

By Neal Lawson

Initial plans for the transition are out of date, gathering dust on some Treasury shelf. Everyone hopes Gordon Brown has a programme but no one seems to know if he has

Michela Wrong compares scams

By Michela Wrong

A pain in the wallet focuses the mind. To Kenyans, the Anglo Leasing scandal feels like a very personal affront

Mark Thomas tackles the C of E

By Mark Thomas

The Church of England is not the Tory party at prayer at all. It is the Labour cabinet in action

Commons Confidential

Village life - Kevin Maguire picks up a cheque

By Kevin Maguire

The Tory Taliban flash the cash, Tessa holds court, and Gordon's accent goes south

Competition

Win vouchers to spend at any Tesco store

Culture

Man behaving badly

By Richard Cork

Art - Richard Cork on an artist who drank, dressed up and destroyed his own paintings

Gags unbound

By Carolyn O'Hara

Comedy - We need to laugh at prejudice - but can Islam tolerate satire? Carolyn O'Hara assesses an attempt to bridge the divide

Victoria Segal - Small-screen hero

By Victoria Segal

A tale of anti-McCarthy pluck sets high standards for TV, writes Victoria Segal Good Night, and Good Luck (PG)

Film

The death of art house

By Ryan Gilbey

British directors once made movies as bold as Sebastiane and My Beautiful Laundrette; now they mostly content themselves with Four Weddings and its ilk. Ryan Gilbey wonders what happened to experimental cinema

Radio

Radio - Rachel Cooke

By Rachel Cooke

Ian McMillan read the poem aloud, slowly and portentously, in an accent straight out of a Hovis ad

Theatre

Michael Portillo - History lessons

By Michael Portillo

Theatre - Real issues replace soundbites as the Iron Lady returns, writes Michael Portillo Thatcher: the musical Warwick Arts Centre

Television

Andrew Billen - Fiendish invention

By Andrew Billen

Television - Jack Bauer's misadventures are still essential viewing, writes Andrew Billen 24 (Sky One)

The Fan

The fan - Hunter Davies meets Rio, Wayne and the Doc

By Hunter Davies

For football stars, writing a book is easy. It's promoting it that's the killer

Books

The man who believes in nothing. Even if they disagree about what he stands for, most people assume that Osama Bin Laden is a man of conviction. Yet his statements reveal him to be a shameless chancer who steals most of his ideas from the west, writes Brendan O'Neill

By Brendan O'Neill

The Osama Bin Laden I Know: an oral history of al-Qaeda's leader Peter L Bergen Free Press, 444pp, £17.99 ISBN 0743278917 Messages to the World: the statements of Osama Bin Laden Edited by Bruce Lawrence Verso, 224pp, £10.99 Knowing the Enemy: jihadist ideology and the war on terror Mary Habeck Yale University Press, 243pp, £16.95