26 March 2007
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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
Features
Has Brown found the vision thing?
Fresh from being likened to Stalin, Gordon Brown sought to establish his credentials as a new and likeable leader for Britain. But did his final Budget answer his critics?
The swansong has a sting
To the end, the Chancellor retained his appetite for taking from the rich to pay the poor. But was he as generous as he seemed?
The murk and dirt of the White House
At last, the everyday corruption of the Bush administration is gradually being brought out into the daylight.
Scotland: Time to say goodbye?
Allan Little introduces our special report on Scotland with a look back at history, empire and Thatcher, and a look ahead to a possible new model for his native land
Salmond: set England free
With his party ahead in the polls, the leader of the SNP says independence would serve UK interests too.
Inverness: the new Shangri-La?
It's the fastest-growing city in western Europe - a dazzling beacon of new opportunity and enterprise. But behind the glitz, the local community is struggling desperately to survive.
Land of the Rennie Mackintosh oven mitt
Why is vibrant new Scotland still being marketed with a wee dram, tartan shortbread and a Scotty dog paperweight? Lucy Sweet reports from the Glasgow City sightseeing bus
On the margins
Most Scots live in the narrow corridor between Edinburgh and Glasgow, yet their country's identity stems from the land beyond.
Regulars
Commons Confidential
Peerage for dark prince?
Oofy is talking of fleeing to Putin's Russia. It may be kinder to him than Brown's Britain
A week in the life
Set by Pat O'Byrne We asked you for an extract from the diary of one of David Cameron's fellow pupils or the housemaster when he was gated for a week at Eton
Culture
Tales from the front line
The playwright Gregory Burke has revitalised Scottish theatre. He talks to Mark Brown about his Iraq war drama Black Watch, Hampstead liberals and why he'd never vote SNP
On top of the world
The Scotland pavilion at this year's Venice Biennale will promote the country as a centre for a wide range of internationally ambitious art. Daniel Trilling meets the six artists whose work will be on display
Theatre
This is such stuff as dreams are made on
A multilingual, multicultural take on Shakespeare's play is a joy A Midsummer Night's Dream Roundhouse, London NW1
Film
Plenty of passion, but where's the humanity?
A worthy subject, but this is yet another white film about black suffering Amazing Grace (PG) dir: Michael Apted
Television
Reader, it's unfeasible
Star casting and chasing after ratings neuter a complex Jane Austen story Mansfield Park ITV1
Books
Edinburgh
Scotland's writers have never been more confident - or less tied to "Scottish" themes. In our books special, exclusive stories by A L Kennedy and James Meek rove from the nation's capital to Kiev, while new poems by John Burnside travel between past and future An exclusive short story
Guilt, not Gaelic
Scottish writing has finally shaken off its inferiority complex - but can it thrive on confidence, rather than cringing? asks Colin Waters
For love
Scotland's writers have never been more confident - or less tied to "Scottish" themes. Here we have an exclusive short story by James Meek
An essay on narrative
Poet and novelist John Burnside is one of Scotland's best-known writers. This new sequence of poems is exclusive to the NS
Eastern adventure
Misadventure in the Middle East: travels as tramp, artist and spy Henry Hemming Nicholas Brealey, 298pp, £10.99 ISBN 1857883950
