Life & Society
Lead Feature
Queen's Elastoplast dress
A Credit Crunch is just some kind of half-arsed pudding. We’re going to get through it by enjoying generosity and sharing simple pleasures, just like the good old Queen said
Also in life & society
''We've had to let six staff go this Christmas . . . people with families and mortgages''
Families all over Britain are bracing themselves for hard times. For some, they have already started. Fran Abrams reports from Leek in Staffordshire
Christmas cards from the New Statesman
Cards from Stanley Donwood and Ralph Steadman
30 reasons to celebrate in 2009
Good news has been in short supply in 2008, so we offer reasons for excitement and optimism in the new year, from the inauguration of Barack Obama and the closure of Guantanamo Bay to the arrival of the Australian cricket team in these islands to contest the Ashes. Some of our choices are serious, others less so - but all are examples of human ingenuity, innovation and progress.
Edited by Alyssa McDonald
Wishful thinking for 2009
The good news for the new year is as follows
Prisoner 2412
An exclusive short story written for children by Anthony Horowitz
Wreckage
Illustration by Joanna Szachowska-Tarkowska
Quiz
Who did what behind David Cameron's back? Why was Prince Charles a "miserable swine"? And how many billion did the government chuck at the banks . . . ? Sharpen those pencils, folks - it's quiz time
You must remember this . . .
More This Week
In Religion
Interview: Rowan Williams
Over the course of a turbulent year the Archbishop of Canterbury had a series of meetings with James Macintyre during which he spoke about sharia law, capitalism, the disestablishment of the Church, and his love of The West Wing
Columnists
Sport
Hunter Davies
The Christmas awards every footballer dreams of winning are unimpressed with Ronaldo
