Ireland’s forever wars
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Without total change Labour will die
Len Deighton and the mundanity of spies
I was sent to prevent the Bolshevik Revolution and to keep Russia in the war,” wrote Somerset Maugham in…
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Jhumpa Lahiri: “Who isn’t on the outside?“
The Pulitzer Prize-winning author on Italy, immigration and why she thinks identity is a trap.
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Reviewed in short: New books by Anita Sethi, Martin Gayford, David Hockney, Musa Okwonga and Benjamin Myers
I Belong Here by Sethi, Spring Cannot Be Cancelled by Gayford and Hockney, In the End, It was All About Love…
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Roy Dennis’s Restoring the Wild chronicles 60 years of rewilding Britain
Now 81, Dennis is possibly the UK’s most senior and influential conservationist you may never have heard of.
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The NS Poem: Heine’s raspberry drops
A new poem by Craig Raine.
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The German history wars
The former Prussian royal family’s effort to recover riches lost after the Second World War hinges on one question:…
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Tony Blair: Without total change Labour will die
The Labour Party needs complete deconstruction and reconstruction. Nothing less will do.
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The quiet landscape of Giorgio Morandi
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Wondery’s British Scandal is a jarring mish-mash of tragedy and comedy
This series about the death of Alexander Litvinenko is full of bizarre tonal shifts that are at odds with…
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Emily Mortimer’s The Pursuit of Love is bold, barmy and never boring
Her adaptation of Nancy Mitford's novel features subtitles, freeze-frames and loud blasts of T Rex.
By
The dark humour of Gurinder Chadha’s Bhaji on the Beach
This 1993 film about a group of British-Indian women on holiday uses comedy to navigate themes of inherited cultural…
By
In gardening, the pursuit of perfection is fruitless; we should embrace nature’s wonkiness
If I have learnt anything in 40 years of writing about horticulture, it's that “perfect” produce is a meaningless ideal…
By
I was born to bask in the Mediterranean sun, not write under the bedcovers for warmth
I am sick of these cold, grey skies. I want to grapple with my internal troubles in a warm harbour…
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Holly Tucker Q&A: “I’m pretty gutted with the obviousness of politics today“
The co-founder of the online marketplace Notonthehighstreet.com discusses her passion for small businesses, Madonna and Frida Kahlo.
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Subscriber of the Week: Max Johnson
Email emily.bootle@newstatesman.co.uk if you would like to be the New Statesman's Subscriber of the Week.
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This England: Arousing suspicion
This column – which, though named after a line in Shakespeare’s Richard II, refers to the whole of Britain…
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Why is Harry Kane still at Spurs? I can think of 20 reasons
When Harry lies awake at night, turning it all over and over, perhaps he sees the news at the…
By
Watching Netflix’s My Octopus Teacher, I wonder why we like to imagine animals are our friends
Must we see something of ourselves in animals – read our emotions into their behaviour, attribute to them a level…
By
First Thoughts: Guardian airbrushing, lobotomised TV, and saving our subtitles
As the Guardian celebrates 200 years in print, the historic moments the newspaper chose to highlight are a lesson…
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Commons Confidential: The great proletarian
Your weekly dose of gossip from around Wesminster.
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How Tory dominance is built on home ownership
The Conservatives have created an economy for homeowners but in London and elsewhere they are finding it hard to sell capitalism…
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Peter Mandelson: “I’m afraid Keir Starmer has come badly unstuck”
The former Labour cabinet minister and Hartlepool MP on why his party is being “left behind”.
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In an age of fragmentation, the British left’s electoral woes are part of a Europe-wide trend
The Labour Party’s troubles are not isolated, but it should beware of drawing the wrong lessons from its European…
By
The backlash against Torrey Peters’s novel makes me ashamed of our literary culture
If the Wild Woman Writing Club’s stance on transgender women in general is morally repulsive to me, their denunciation…
By
Keir Starmer has alienated the generation Corbyn energised. But can Labour succeed without us?
Politics today is a spectacle that can’t command my attention, let alone my allegiance.
By
Politics is turning on its axis – and the one politician who gets this is Boris Johnson
The Prime Minister has transformed the Tories, while the Labour Party faces a difficult truth: if it did not exist in…
By
Andrew Marr’s Diary: A Glasgow homecoming, Scotland’s self-knowledge and what does England want to be?
I make no political point when I say Glasgow feels as distinct from an English city as, for instance,…
By
Keir Starmer is adrift. Who can supply the direction he so desperately lacks?
What is most alarming for the Labour leader is his allies are as confused about his game plan as…
By
Does Tony Blair really believe he can lead the change Labour needs?
He has railed against Keir Starmer’s leadership, but there is another more subliminal message: Tony Blair wants to lead the Labour…
By
Labour’s loss of Hartlepool is the final death rattle of a movement that has abandoned its heartlands
The reality for the party is that none of its factions offers any redemption – all have tried and…
By
Letter of the week: My secret love of buses
A selection of the best letters received from our readers this week. Email letters@newstatesman.co.uk to have your thoughts voiced…
By
Leader: Why the SNP has a mandate for a second Scottish referendum
Rather than seeking to thwart the Scottish government in the courts, Westminster should invite it to contest an open…
By Reviewed in short: New books by Anita Sethi, Martin Gayford, David Hockney, Musa Okwonga and Benjamin Myers
I Belong Here by Sethi, Spring Cannot Be Cancelled by Gayford and Hockney, In the End, It was All About Love…
By Roy Dennis’s Restoring the Wild chronicles 60 years of rewilding Britain
Now 81, Dennis is possibly the UK’s most senior and influential conservationist you may never have heard of.
By The NS Poem: Heine’s raspberry drops
A new poem by Craig Raine.
By Wondery’s British Scandal is a jarring mish-mash of tragedy and comedy
This series about the death of Alexander Litvinenko is full of bizarre tonal shifts that are at odds with…
By The dark humour of Gurinder Chadha’s Bhaji on the Beach
This 1993 film about a group of British-Indian women on holiday uses comedy to navigate themes of inherited cultural…
By First Thoughts: Guardian airbrushing, lobotomised TV, and saving our subtitles
As the Guardian celebrates 200 years in print, the historic moments the newspaper chose to highlight are a lesson…
By Commons Confidential: The great proletarian
Your weekly dose of gossip from around Wesminster.
By How Tory dominance is built on home ownership
The Conservatives have created an economy for homeowners but in London and elsewhere they are finding it hard to sell capitalism…
By The backlash against Torrey Peters’s novel makes me ashamed of our literary culture
If the Wild Woman Writing Club’s stance on transgender women in general is morally repulsive to me, their denunciation…
By Keir Starmer has alienated the generation Corbyn energised. But can Labour succeed without us?
Politics today is a spectacle that can’t command my attention, let alone my allegiance.
By Holly Tucker Q&A: “I’m pretty gutted with the obviousness of politics today“
The co-founder of the online marketplace Notonthehighstreet.com discusses her passion for small businesses, Madonna and Frida Kahlo.
By In an age of fragmentation, the British left’s electoral woes are part of a Europe-wide trend
The Labour Party’s troubles are not isolated, but it should beware of drawing the wrong lessons from its European…
By Politics is turning on its axis – and the one politician who gets this is Boris Johnson
The Prime Minister has transformed the Tories, while the Labour Party faces a difficult truth: if it did not exist in…
By Andrew Marr’s Diary: A Glasgow homecoming, Scotland’s self-knowledge and what does England want to be?
I make no political point when I say Glasgow feels as distinct from an English city as, for instance,…
By Keir Starmer is adrift. Who can supply the direction he so desperately lacks?
What is most alarming for the Labour leader is his allies are as confused about his game plan as…
By Subscriber of the Week: Max Johnson
Email emily.bootle@newstatesman.co.uk if you would like to be the New Statesman's Subscriber of the Week.
By Does Tony Blair really believe he can lead the change Labour needs?
He has railed against Keir Starmer’s leadership, but there is another more subliminal message: Tony Blair wants to lead the Labour…
By Why is Harry Kane still at Spurs? I can think of 20 reasons
When Harry lies awake at night, turning it all over and over, perhaps he sees the news at the…
By Letter of the week: My secret love of buses
A selection of the best letters received from our readers this week. Email letters@newstatesman.co.uk to have your thoughts voiced…
By This England: Arousing suspicion
This column – which, though named after a line in Shakespeare’s Richard II, refers to the whole of Britain…
By Watching Netflix’s My Octopus Teacher, I wonder why we like to imagine animals are our friends
Must we see something of ourselves in animals – read our emotions into their behaviour, attribute to them a level…
By I was born to bask in the Mediterranean sun, not write under the bedcovers for warmth
I am sick of these cold, grey skies. I want to grapple with my internal troubles in a warm harbour…
By Leader: Why the SNP has a mandate for a second Scottish referendum
Rather than seeking to thwart the Scottish government in the courts, Westminster should invite it to contest an open…
By In gardening, the pursuit of perfection is fruitless; we should embrace nature’s wonkiness
If I have learnt anything in 40 years of writing about horticulture, it's that “perfect” produce is a meaningless ideal…
By Peter Mandelson: “I’m afraid Keir Starmer has come badly unstuck”
The former Labour cabinet minister and Hartlepool MP on why his party is being “left behind”.
By Labour’s loss of Hartlepool is the final death rattle of a movement that has abandoned its heartlands
The reality for the party is that none of its factions offers any redemption – all have tried and…
By Emily Mortimer’s The Pursuit of Love is bold, barmy and never boring
Her adaptation of Nancy Mitford's novel features subtitles, freeze-frames and loud blasts of T Rex.
By