Contents COLUMNS Letters 8 Helen Joyce The diversity trap 6 Law Yuan Yi Zhu: First lady of the law 9 Woman about Town Lisa Hilton: Mostra del Cinema 10 Nova’s dia r y Getting change out of Rishi 11 Serious business Ned: The vim of Unilever 15 Everyday Lies Theodore Dalrymple: The BMA and income inequality 21 My Woke World Titania McGrath: Róisín Murphy and her heinous “Hate” Parade 25 Sounding Board Marcus Walker: Clothes maketh the nation 34 Arty Types D.J. Taylor on Mairead McSweeney 44 Economics Tim Congdon: A tired soap opera 45 Romeo Coates Perfect for the part 76
Adam Dant on … The Old Bailey criminal map 52
FEATUR E S Liz Truss: What if ... ? Rohan Watt provides an insider’s guide to a premiership cut short 13 How to fix Brexit Lee Reynolds says journalist Peter Foster asks some of the right questions and identifies areas for action in his new book What Went Wrong with Brexit 16 Abused by the IRA, betrayed by Britain Jo Bartosch on the disturbing case of Máiría Cahill, allegedly raped by an IRA operative and let down by a botched prosecution 18
This month’s cover is illus trated by Barr y Falls
Don’t give a Voice to racism Tim Smith says a proposed change to the Australian constitution will enshrine inequality in law 22 Profile: Pierre Poilievre Canada’s Conservative leader has struck a chord with voters disenchanted by the gap between promise and reality 26 Block votes and nutters Stephen Pollard recalls a time when the Labour conference really mattered 29 The making of Sunak Alexander Larman argues the PM has the brittle self-confidence of a true Wykehamist 32 Keir’s woman problem Victoria Smith says Labour’s weak handling of the trans issue fails to instil confidence it will hold firm against sex denial extremists 35 Labour’s Blues Sebastian Milbank argues that Leftish economics allied to moderate social conservatism offers a route to power for Sir Keir Starmer 37 In defence of the Dark Ages Samuel Rubinstein says the early medieval period really was “dark”, whatever its revisionist champions may say 39
Fathers of the republic Daniel Johnson welcomes a new portrait of the Victorian statesmen who did so much to forge modern Ireland 42 Why do we persist with opera? Lola Salem says it is artistically ossified and dependent on state subsidies 46 The World at War at 50 Andrea Valentino explores the landmark television documentary 48 STUDIO William Cook: Colin Watson and the lost art of figurative painting 54
BOOKS A.N. Wilson: Sing As We Go: Britain Between the Wars by Simon Heffer; Letters for the Ages: The Private and Personal Letters of Sir Winston Churchill edited by James Drake and Allen Packwood 58 Alex Middleton: Southern Europe in the Age of Revolutions by Maurizio Isabella 60 Georgy Kantor: Pax: War and Peace in Rome’s Golden Age by Tom Holland; Emperor of Rome: Ruling the Ancient Roman World by Mary Beard 62 Mateusz Stróżyński: How to Be: Lessons from the Early Greeks by Adam Nicolson 64 Daniel Miller: Traditionalism: The Radical Project for Restoring Sacred Order by Mark Sedgwick 65 Christopher Silvester: Memory Makers: The Politics of the Past in Putin’s Russia by Jade McGlynn 67 Sir Richard Dearlove: Spies: The Epic Intelligence War Between East and West by Calder Walton 68 Charlotte Gauthier: The Globe: How the Earth Became Round by James Hannam 71 Harry Eyres: Vines in a Cold Climate: The People Behind the English Wine Revolution by Henry Jeffreys 72 John Self : The Maniac by Benjamín Labatut ; Ordinary Human Failings by Megan Nolan; So Late in the Day by Claire Keegan 73 THE SECRET AUTHOR Meeting the Masses 75
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the critic 4 oct 2023
