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15 June 2007updated 19 Sep 2023 5:44pm

Ben’s baby

Irregular hours, inexplicable tantrums and incomprehensible babbling

By Simon Hooper

First, a happy and belated announcement. Ben has become a proud father; wife Chris gave birth to their first daughter – and the first newstatesman.com baby – last week. Congratulations to all. Which means, of course, in these enlightened times that Ben is currently undergoing the total sensory bombardment benignly known as “paternity leave.”

Still, what better preparation for irregular hours, inexplicable tantrums and incomprehensible babbling than a career as a hack?

With Ben taking his two-week crash course in parenting, we’ve done our best to ensure the same high standards and provocative content that newstatesman.com regulars have come to expect.

First of all, we threw our weight behind a UCL student campaign exposing the college’s investments in the arms trade that aimed to shame the college into adopting an ethical investment policy.

The great news is that newstatesman.com’s intervention proved decisive: following a lively response on these pages triggered by Sara Hall’s piece, UCL has agreed to move its money elsewhere – a victory Sara and her co-campaigners hope will force other arms-investing universities to follow suit.

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Another article that has been causing a stir on the web is Ed Husain’s alarming piece, arguing that a rising tide of radical Islamist rhetoric could be a prelude to jihadism bringing the violence of Baghdad to Bradford.

The Guardian’s Comment is Free site is currently running a counter-argument by Inayat Bunglawala. This is clearly an issue that has set the blogosphere buzzing with both stories getting very well hit.

Elsewhere, we’ve had a thought-provoking Head to Head debate on whether the police should use affirmitive action to raise the number of officers from ethnic minorities, featuring the Chief Constable of Cheshire, Peter Fahy, and Kay Hampton of the Commission for Racial Equality.

Don’t forget as well that you can only see exclusive extra snapshots from Nick Danziger’s stunning photo essay of Brown’s Britain online. All that, all your regular favourites and a new baby.

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Select and enter your email address Your weekly guide to the best writing on ideas, politics, books and culture every Saturday. The best way to sign up for The Saturday Read is via saturdayread.substack.com The New Statesman's quick and essential guide to the news and politics of the day. The best way to sign up for Morning Call is via morningcall.substack.com Our Thursday ideas newsletter, delving into philosophy, criticism, and intellectual history. The best way to sign up for The Salvo is via thesalvo.substack.com Stay up to date with NS events, subscription offers & updates. Weekly analysis of the shift to a new economy from the New Statesman's Spotlight on Policy team. The best way to sign up for The Green Transition is via spotlightonpolicy.substack.com
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  • Science and Technical Research and Development
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Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
THANK YOU