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Why George Osborne's climbdown from pensions reform was predictable - and poor
Plus Daily Mail euphemisms, ignoring Bernie Sanders’s success, and a councillor’s righteous rage. George Osborne has learned once more why it is so hard to reform Britain’s unfair and complex tax...
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Should we subject candidates for President to psychiatric testing?
According to Frederick Burkle, "today's tyrants" exhibit a range of narcissistic and antisocial traits. We can snigger, frown or fret over the rise of Donald Trump, but what if we could, in fact,...
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I never could stand Janis Joplin’s voice – until I began to understand her
I have to confess, Joplin's singing had always set me on edge. But seeing the way she struggled to be free made me love her. Someone asked me the other day whether I’d ever considered writing more...
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Labour's Englishness problem isn't imaginary. It is real and pressing
Labour risks becoming a party of no nation, warns Ed Miliband's pollster James Morris. It is not surprising that most English people think the Labour party is “not quite one of us” when the party...
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My mother elbowed Tony Benn out of the way to get to her Vietnamese comrades
Molly descended the stairs and, going straight over to the ambassador, elbowed Tony Benn out of the way. In my second year of college, to celebrate me getting my own place, I decided to throw a dinner...
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Work with us: The 2016 Wellcome Scholarships at the New Statesman
For the third year running, ethnic minority journalists are invited to apply for a paid internship at the New Statesman. Britain needs more great science writers – particularly from backgrounds which...
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It's not much comfort for refugees if they exchange Syrian repression for the...
If Turkey is to continue to be a strong ally to the EU in addressing this crisis, we must always have human rights and the rule of law at the forefront of our negotiations. On the face of it, in the...
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What thrilling doomsday scenario will English football come up with next?
The rumoured meeting between the Big Five clubs risks creating an unfair Premiere League. As John Updike’s paunchy car salesman Harry Angstrom observes in the third of the Rabbit novels: “The world...
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The NS Podcast #139: Twitter, tax and equality
The New Statesman podcast. This week, Helen and Stephen talk women and the EU (and expensive hovercraft). George Eaton joins down-the-line-from-the-lobby, with Corbyn's latest attempts to rally his...
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Welcoming and accepting refugees is what makes our country great
From Huguenots to Russian Jews to Ugandan Asians, it's part of our island story. We live in a global city, with evidence of international artefacts and trade pre-dating Roman settlement. Under the...
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Could this be the year the Tories make headway in Scotland?
Scots may like Ruth Davidson, think little of Scottish Labour and even agree with the Conservatives on income tax - but will they vote for them? Animal metaphors were much in evidence at the Scottish...
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Hugh McIlvanney will be named a bully, braggart and bore - but he had a rare...
As McIlvanney retires from sports journalism, it is worth remembering why to read him on Muhammed Ali or Matt Busby was to read a very fine writer indeed. A wonderful sportswriter retired last week....
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Margaret Forster: A northern lass in NW5
Antisocial and curious, rude and generous, a literary EastEnders fan – my friend was full of contradictions. My 40-year friendship with Margaret Forster began on Hampstead Heath on Maundy Thursday in...
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The thinking behind John McDonnell’s new fiscal credibility rule
With a focus on growth rather than financial froth, the shadow chancellor is seeking to move Labour past the economic legacy of Gordon Brown and Ed Balls. The most interesting thing about Labour’s new...
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John McDonnell is committed to borrowing - from Ed Balls and Ed Miliband
The shadow chancellor's fiscal stance is most notable for its familiarity. It’s as if Ed Balls never went away. John McDonnell regularly denounced his predecessor as “austerity-lite” but his new...
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Can John McDonnell settle Labour's seven-year-itch?
The shadow chancellor's approach is a more full-throated version of what Ed Miliband offered - and a more disciplined approach, too.“We can't make the next election our cuts versus their cuts,” Gordon...
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Vast, lucid, chilling: how the Bond production designer Ken Adam transformed...
The production designer Ken Adam, famous for his work on Dr Strangelove and seven James Bond films, has died at the age of 95.*/ When the legendary cinematographer Douglas Slocombe died a few weeks...
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When governments curtail our freedoms, LGBT people are first in the firing line
Worldwide, repression begins in the LGBT community. There have been three instances of late of government censorship across the world: the Kenyan government wrestling with Google as it tries to ban a...
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Is Ofsted scrutinising faith schools properly?
The recent case of an Orthodox Jewish school that went from Ofsted’s very highest ranking to its lowest within one inspection raises uncomfortable questions. Whether they graduate from the...
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Why I'll be doing stand-up comedy about politics, power and the pink bus
Stories about working in politics are told largely by white men educated at Oxbridge - now I'm no longer beholden to politics full time, I decided to offer an alternative. The last time I appeared in...
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