08 May 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

Is this the end?

Reeling from one crisis to the next, unable to control his ministers, Tony Blair faces even more trouble as the loans-for-peerages investigation closes in. By Martin Bright, NS political editor

By Martin Bright

Features

Big bad John

By Kevin Maguire

Kevin Maguire recalls breaking the news of Tracey Temple to the Deputy Prime Minister

Congo on the edge

By Michela Wrong

After its elections, will this gigantic African nation begin a new, normalised future - as the international community fervently hopes - or will it implode? Michela Wrong reports from Kinshasa

Protest still matters

By Paul Kingsnorth

The global justice movement is at a crossroads, writes Paul Kingsnorth. If it is to survive, it needs to inspire and energise a whole new generation

I felt my cause had been hijacked

By Jean Mahony

Jean Mahony writes of her experiences at the second European Social Forum

NS Special Report - Only spies can stop the chaos

By Hugh Barnes

Pakistan's intelligence service used to sponsor the Islamists. Now it is trying to prevent them taking over the country.

Mission akkomplished

By Ariel Dorfman

Does Dubbya have a secret history that's even stranger than his current reality? What's the real reason the president disdains International Workers' Day? The unlikely truth is revealed here, in Mayday for Comrade Bush, a comic fantasy

Regulars

New Statesman Leader

Disaffection is their problem, not ours

Politicians should remember in these scandal-ridden times that theirs is a mandatory requirement to serve us with honesty and integrity

Taking the gravity out of prayer

By Ziauddin Sardar

Who will be Malaysia's first astronauts? And how will they perform their prayers, as Muslims, under zero gravity? Asks Ziauddin Sardar

Commons Confidential

Village life - Kevin Maguire tweaks Dave's vibes

By Kevin Maguire

Safety first for the vicar, Citizen Dave's Hogwarts chum, and capitulators v ultras at No 10

John Pilger detects the Salvador Option

By John Pilger

The American public is being prepared. If the attack on Iran does come, there will be no warning, no declaration of war, no truth

Darcus Howe isn't sorry for a Silver Fox

By Darcus Howe

Panday reneged on all the principles we valued and allied himself with rich oligarchs. Now he is a convicted man

Competition

Win vouchers to spend in any Tesco store

Culture

The long view

By Christopher Bray

Epic films are anathema to audiences weaned on action-packed Hollywood blockbusters, but Christopher Bray finds that the slow-burning cinema of Jacques Rivette is worth suffering for

Difficult stage

By David Smith

Interview - The playwright Michael Frayn is a man of contradictions - and that is the key to his art, argues David Smith

Tribal gathering

By William Cook

Photography - William Cook on an exhibition that charts the tragic demise of America’s indigenous past

Radio

Radio - Rachel Cooke

By Rachel Cooke

A new Radio 4 phone-in fills me with dread. The only thought it provokes is: what's on television?

Theatre

Family jewels

By Michael Portillo

Theatre - Respectability poses problems in a smart Edwardian satire, writes Michael Portillo The Voysey Inheritance Lyttelton Theatre, London SE1

Film

Seeing is believing

By Victoria Segal

Film - We make our own reality, say a blind artist and mad musician. By Victoria Segal Black Sun (12A) The Devil and Daniel Johnston (12A)

Television

Take the Monet

By Andrew Billen

Television - A tale of French artists proves less a forgery than a try-on, writes Andrew Billen The Impressionists (BBC1)

The Fan

The fan - Hunter Davies talks injuries with Wayne

By Hunter Davies

Talking to Wayne, early on Friday night, I asked how he felt about injuries

Books

An inglorious history

By Paul Laity

The Union Jack: the story of the British flag Nick Groom Atlantic Books, 396pp, £16.99 ISBN 1843543362 It would be wrong for Britain to embrace American-style patriotism. While the US Stars and Stripes symbolises Enlightenment rationalism, the Union Jack will always be a remnant of empire