23 October 2006

From the Editor…

Welcome to the New Statesman website. Whether you are a new reader or an existing one - online or via the magazine - I hope you'll enjoy the great writing, fresh ideas and provocative debate that make the New Statesman Britain's award-winning current affairs weekly

Jason Cowley, Editor, New Statesman

Cover story

Why we must ration the future

You can't bargain with the planet because it doesn't care whether or not targets are "politically acceptable". So unless we secure a deal determining how much carbon each nation and each person can emit, we simply will not survive

By Mark Lynas

Features

How ministers became soap stars

By Stephen Byers

Reflecting on the book that is causing a political storm, Stephen Byers praises its author and calls on public servants past and present to debate ideas in the open

Legal highs: the new 'social tonics'?

By Stephen Armstrong

Britain's drugs laws are in a mess, and into the confusion has stepped a new breed of drugs entrepreneurs who claim they have the answer: safe, substitute substances

Missing their marbles

By Helena Smith

As Greece puts the finishing touches to a building fit to hold the Parthenon sculptures, museums around the world are giving their fragments back. How much longer can the British Museum cling on to Lord Elgin's loot? Helena Smith reports

Britain's forgotten hero

By William Cook

How has it happened that the man who did more than any other to bring about the abolition of slavery is today without honour in his own country?

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Regulars

New Statesman Leader

Apply tolerance, but test it against the principles of the good society

Diary

"Oi, what's wiv the kiss in the text?"

By Bel Mooney

Texting bores me: I can't be bothered with the twiddling or the false intimacies. But at least this keeps me out of danger

Politics

One minister who understands the problem

By Martin Bright

Ruth Kelly's wake-up call about Islamism to Britain's Muslims and British society at large is far more important than Jack Straw's opportunism over the veil

This England

Each printed entry will receive a £5 book token
Entries on a POSTCARD, please, to This England, NS, address at www.newstatesman.com/contactus.htm

Portrait of the artist No 3951

Set by Didier d'Argent
Do our sports personalities need more accomplished ghost-writers?

Arts & Culture

Remaking history

By Andrew Meldrum

South Africa's dynamic new museums are not just showcasing the past - they are reinventing the country's identity

Notes from underground

By Daniel Trilling

Daniel Trilling is delighted that the alternative press is booming - even in the age of the internet

Theatre

Cabaret works its wicked way

By Rosie Millard

Witches from Oz are no match for the sexy and sinister Kit Kat Klub
Wicked Apollo Victoria Theatre, London SW1
Cabaret Lyric Theatre, London W1

Film

Never mind the Bastille, here's a sexy picture

By Ryan Gilbey

Style and hedonism trump history in Sofia Coppola's flawed biopic
Marie Antoinette (12A)
dir: Sofia Coppola
I Saw Ben Barka Get Killed (12A)
dir: Serge Le Péron

Television

We shall not see her like again

By Andrew Billen

Helen Mirren's swansong as DS Tennison is deeply satisfying to watch
Prime Suspect: the final act ITV1

Radio

My Vanessa Feltz fixation

By Rachel Cooke

She is witty, warm and clever - and I'm not being ironic

Travels

National distrust

By Ben Mallalieu

Heritage projects preserve buildings, but can neglect the people attached to them

Drink

Wine: One for the road

By Roger Scruton

With a motorbike mishap in France, Roger Scruton discovered a lesser-known white wine

Books

Politics has been atomised

By Ashish Bhatt

The Idea of India
Sunil Khilnani Penguin Books, 304pp, £10.99
ISBN 0141014261

Blair's first term in office

By Kitty Ussher

Servants of the People
Andrew Rawnsley Penguin Books, 592pp, £8.99
ISBN 0140278508

A recurring obsession

By Anne McElvoy

From the Diary of a Snail
Gunter Grass Harvest Books, 310pp, US$17
ISBN 0156339501

New Labour's tragic prophet

By Martin Bright

The Future of Socialism
Anthony Crosland Constable Books, 416pp, £9.99
ISBN 1845294858

Poetry special

By Rachel Aspden

We mark the start of the 2006 Poetry International with a series of articles and look forward to next month’s Aldeburgh Festival by asking our readers to select their favourite poems.

Give poetry back to people

By Neil Astley

It reminds us who we are, argues Neil Astley - but only if we shake off academic elitism and celebrate voices from our communities and around the world