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9 June 2011

In this week’s New Statesman: Rowan Williams guest-edit

Philip Pullman, Iain Duncan Smith, Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, and Gordon Brown all feature in this

By Duncan Robinson

Cover

This week’s New Statesman was guest-edited by Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams.

Dr Williams used the leader to launch a remarkable attack on the coalition government, warning that it is committing the country to “radical, long-term policies for which no one voted”. He also discussed Libya, torture and Britain’s declining role in the world with Foreign Secretary William Hague.

Dr Williams commissioned a wide range of essays, articles and reports in conjunction with New Statesman editors for the 80-page special issue, including articles by Philip Pullman on being a “Church of England atheist”, Iain Duncan Smith on cracking down on welfare abuse, Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks on why religion can build a better society than the so-called “big society”, Gordon Brown on how the world is failing young people and Richard Curtis on malaria being commissioned by an Archbishop.

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Elsewhere in the magazine, Rafael Behr discusses the Lib Dem plan to “retoxify” the Tories, Mehdi Hasan on Sharia law, and Victoria Coren wonders whether or not playing poker is a sin.

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