Andrew Marr is right about external shocks remaking countries (Cover Story, 27 June). But gifted politicians show countries how to adapt and survive them. Lloyd George in the First World War, Churchill in the Second, and Bevin and Bevan in 1945 all explained problems and solutions in simple, memorable terms. Not everyone agreed with them, but everyone knew what they were trying to do.
Labour must urgently learn from their example. The Prime Minister and the Chancellor are hard-working managers, but colourless and cardboard communicators. Neither seems to have (or be capable of conveying) a clear and compelling vision of where our country is going and how we get there. Consequently, they come over as making piecemeal administrative decisions (winter fuel allowance and benefits cuts, then partial and ill-planned U-turns) without explaining how any of it fits into an overall plan for Britain. This government must start evoking a consistent policy narrative and vision. If it can’t tell a joined-up story of hope, supported by logically connected policies, it will inevitably lose its battle with Farage’s opportunistic but far more fluent storytelling.
Robert Dear, Enfield
Time to unionise
As someone who reads the New Statesman in order, Politics followed by the Encounter (27 June) gave me the idea that, in an “era of personality politics”, Mick Lynch could lead a new leftist party set up by Corbyn. The problem was not Corbyn’s policies but his personality, whereas Lynch excelled at “put downs of… junior ministers” and “eviscerations of… television presenters”.
Moira Sykes, Manchester
Eddie Dempsey’s understandable desire to see a trade union revival needs to be earthed in a humble understanding of why so many working-class people turned against unions in the 1980s, and kept the Conservatives in power. Closed shops, block votes at conferences, hostility to innovation and continual strikes, all lost the unions credibility. On the other hand, a friend of mine in rail network management always valued the contributions of his union reps, because they knew the business better than he did and wanted to make things work better. So… a little less class warfare, perhaps?
Chris Hudson, Morpeth, Northumberland
Book smarts
I enjoyed Simon Winder’s excellent piece (Diary, 27 June) on the trepidations of authorship and the pre-publication fear of others pipping his prized book to the post. I recently had a historical novel published, The Poet Laurie Ate, and share his pain. Congratulations to Winder on his effectiveness in bringing his book’s title so readily to the attention of the New Statesman readership – something a retiring debutant author such as myself would never dream of doing…
Ash James, Stourbridge
Movement but no progress
Mindful of the fact that 2026 will be the centenary of the General Strike, I was prompted to ask, on reading Anoosh Chakelian’s article on overcrowded housing (Bursting the Bubble, 27 June) just how much progress has been made at resolving many of the issues that led to it. Certainly poor and insufficient housing was one. Arthur Griffith-Boscawen, one-time minister of health after the First World War, charged with doing something about the housing problem, apparently chose to tell “young couples to continue sharing their parents’ cottages and tenements, rather than seeking a home of their own”. Boscawen lasted one month in office, supposedly. Plus ça change.
Derek Evans, Stafford
Doctored statistics
I am puzzled by Phil Whitaker’s report from Canada (Health Matters, 27 June). He says one in five Canadians have no GP, so new patients come to him are already suffering serious illnesses. He then says Canadian GPs are finding a “sweet spot” where “it is possible to provide high-quality primary care in the present era”. So, first-class service for 80 per cent, no service for 20 per cent? I really don’t think this is the sort of statistic the NHS should be aiming for.
Peter Norton, London N6
None the wiser
Andrew Jefford (Drink, 27 June) addresses the idea that wines can somehow possess “minerality”. An even shakier claim is that a particular wine shows “class”. I once dared ask the tutor at a tasting what this meant. My neighbour (pink jacket, blue-spotted bow tie) interjected with the hackneyed, but no less insulting: “If you have to ask, you will never know.” I still don’t.
Alan Conn, Newcastle upon Tyne
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[See also: Labour’s rebel MPs are rubbish at maths]
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This article appears in the 02 Jul 2025 issue of the New Statesman, Just Raise Tax!