In this week’s cover story, Mehdi Hasan explores why Europe’s political leaders, confronted by a continent-wide economic crisis, have declared war on the veil and argues that a ban is self-defeating. Mehdi has also written this week’s Politics Column, in which he scrutinises the coalition’s claim to the progressive mantle.
Elsewhere, Alice Miles says that says that the much-maligned Sarah Ferguson deserves our sympathy, not our condemnation and David Blanchflower warns that the coalition government’s early spending cuts could unleash new economic turmoil. Blanchflower’s words are echoed by Brendan Barber, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress, who explores the potential impact on employment in this week’s Guest Column.
In The Critics, Terry Eagleton turns his polemical guns on Christopher Hitchens‘s new memoir, Rachel Cooke reviews reviews BBC2’s adaptation of Martin Amis‘s Money, and Sue Hubbard explores how Cornwall became an avant-garde haven.
All this, plus a revealing interview with Sienna Miller, Kevin Maguire‘s Westminster diary and Jon Cruddas on the way forward for Labour.
The issue is on sale now, or you can subscribe through the website.