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1 January 2016updated 12 Oct 2023 10:59am

Best of the NS in 2015: Opinion

Our best pieces from the past year. In this selection, our favourite opinion writing.

By New Statesman

On Nerd Entitlement

By Laurie Penny

White male nerds need to recognise that other people had traumatic upbringings, too - and that's different from structural oppression.

I wouldn’t put Ed Miliband on a T-shirt, but I will vote for him

By Robert Webb

Cameron talks about parental leave like a cop judging a flower show and whining Clegg has propped him up. I know what to do.

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Don’t let the ridiculous smears fool you: Syriza is no party of the radical “far left”

By Mehdi Hasan

Opposing the logic of neoliberal economics does not mean the Greeks have become Marxists.

George Osborne’s plan to spend the tampon tax on women’s charities is simply crass politics

By Anoosh Chakelian

It makes us think that funds from other taxes – the government’s general pot of money not raised by a tax on tampons – is proper money. Men’s money. Money not to be channelled into women-only causes.

Clement Attlee detested faddish radicalism – you couldn’t say that Jeremy Corbyn is his heir

By John Bew

“The people’s flag is palest pink,” Attlee quipped. “It’s not red blood but only ink.” That slogan should be stamped on the back of the “What would Clem do?” T-shirts that have become fashionable among Jeremy Corbyn’s supporters.

A new faction has emerged and it could decide Labour’s future: the “soft right”

By Stephen Bush

These are politicians who are far more moderate than Corbyn but who believe, in the words of one: “We’re going to have to try to make this work.”

Tristram Hunt's non-leadership bid, feat. Eric Hobsbawm, the potters of Stoke, and Brian Cox

By Anoosh Chakelian

A whole lot of impatient journalists await a non-announcement.

Andy Burnham thinks he is an outsider but he’s really just another member of the Guild

By Jason Cowley

Burnham's populist pitch is disingenuous. In truth, he's part of what George Osborne calls the “guild” of professional politicians.

Even Tory MPs are troubled by their party’s power grab

By George Eaton

Since their victory, the Conservatives have introduced a battery of measures to weaken the opposition and reduce accountability.

The Blairites have forgotten how to win

By Ian Leslie

Tony Blair would never have talked to Conservative voters they way his successors have talked to Corbynites.

No wonder “Generation K” loves The Hunger Games – they can't rely on grown-ups either

By Laurie Penny

Today's teenage readers don't trust authority or institutions and why should they? Adults have made an Orwellian nightmare of half of the world and set fire to the rest.

Why it has to be Jeremy Corbyn for me

By Rosie Fletcher

I'm tired of Labour's concilatory opposition. I'm tired of Austerity-Lite. And I'm not alone.

Labour MPs are worried about Momentum. Should they be?

By Stephen Bush

Who runs the Labour party? The answer is complicated.

Labour has become like Millwall Football Club – nobody likes us but we don’t care

By Mary Creagh

The leadership campaign has been dragged to the left, says Mary Creagh. Unfortunately, the electorate has moved to the centre right - and voters think Labour doesn't understand their lives.

Andy Burnham seems like a nice bloke - but I haven't a clue what he stands for

By Jonn Elledge

Andy Burnham's guiding principle seems to be that Andy Burnham should be leader of the Labour party.

There are two ways out of the wilderness for Labour: Jeremy Corbyn or Liz Kendall

By Michael Chessum

There are two paths to a Labour victory in 2020, argues Michael Chessum: either Labour reject the principles of neoliberalism with Corbyn, or embrace them with Liz Kendall.

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