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Contents Free thinking since 1913
Apocal e soon? The scientist ari or doom 4 Can things get better? Labour in 1997 v 2015 28
Up Front
3 Leader 10 Correspondence
Columns
7 Jason Cowley writes from Edinburgh on the referendum 9 George Eaton says that foreign policy shows Cameron’s flaws 13 Jeremy Bowen reports from Damascus on Assad and Isis 23 Alan Taylor writes a Scottish Notebook 25 Andrew Marr reflects on mob rule and bad reviews in The Diary 27 Helen Lewis asks whether devolution is really so great 35 Mehdi Hasan says that air strikes on Isis are not the answer 63 Ed Smith on the abuse of the cricketer Moeen Ali
Observations
14 In the Picture 15 Scotland: Adam Tomkins The No campaign made all the wrong arguments 16 Kinshasa: Michael Barrett On the trail of the explorer Henry Morton Stanley 18 In the Frame: Tom Humberstone Our weekly cartoon strip 18 Science: Michael Brooks How you can be clever, even if you have only half a brain 20 Kevin Maguire The best Westminster gossip in Commons Confidential 20 Sweden: George Eaton Echoes of the UK in the far right’s rise (and the left’s stagnation) 22 Technology: Philip Maughan The most influential tech company you’ve never heard of
Articles
28 Steve Richards compares Labour’s triumphalism in 1996 with the mood today 36 Francis Beckett on the rise and fall of Neil Kinnock, the man who saved Labour 44 Sophie McBain meets the scientists and tech entrepreneurs preparing for the apocalypse 52 Martin Rowson The cartoonist takes a satirical swipe at the coalition’s progress
“Neil is the orator, the
Nye Bevan figure” Roy Hattersley on Neil Kinnock
The paper in this magazine originates from timber that is sourced from sustainable forests, responsibly managed to strict environmental, social and economic standards. The manufacturing mills have both FSC and PEFC certification and also ISO9001 and ISO14001 accreditation.
4 | NEW STATESMAN | 19-25 SEPTEMBER 2014
