Skip to main content
Read page text
page 4
Editor-in-chief Jason Cowley Head of Digital David Tomchak Deputy Editor Tom Gatti International Editor Jeremy Cliffe Political Editor Stephen Bush US Editor Emily Tamkin Creative Editor Gerry Brakus Business Editor Will Dunn Associate Editor Michael Prodger Senior Online Editor George Eaton Online Editor, International India Bourke Culture Editor Anna Leszkiewicz Features Editor Kate Mossman Special Projects Editor Alona Ferber Britain Editor Anoosh Chakelian Commissioning Editors Gavin Jacobson Lola Seaton Special Correspondents Harry Lambert Sophie McBain Political Correspondent Ailbhe Rea International Correspondent Ido Vock Head of Production Peter Williams Chief Sub-Editor Pippa Bailey Senior Sub-Editor Indra Warnes Sub-Editors Christiana Bishop Katherine Cowles Designer Emily Black Social Media Editor Eleanor Peake Digital Culture Writer Sarah Manavis Culture Assistant Ellen Peirson-Hagger Editorial Assistant Emily Bootle Contributing Writers John Bew Philip Collins Chris Deerin Edward Docx Matthew Engel Martin Fletcher John Gray Helen Lewis Shiraz Maher Paul Mason Adrian Pabst David Reynolds Leo Robson Brendan Simms Ed Smith Amelia Tait Johanna Thomas-Corr Helen Thompson Erica Wagner Rowan Williams Contents Free thinking since 1913 Divided we fall: Jeremy Cliffe on America’s test 20 Head down: Simon Heffer on a crisis in government 30 Up Front 3 Leader 10 Correspondence Columns 7 Jason Cowley on Boris Johnson’s failures in office 9 Stephen Bush on how voters exposed anti-Semitism in the Corbyn era 19 Philip Collins on why Keir Starmer needs to crack Labour’s “business problem” 23 Emily Tamkin on how the presidential election failed a nation craving certainty 29 Helen Thompson on the Sino-American energy rivalry 35 Louise Perry on how OnlyFans became the porn industry’s lockdown winner 36 Jonathan Liew asks why F1 champion Lewis Hamilton is so widely disliked Observations 12 In the Picture 13 Comment: Salley Vickers on the case against lockdown 14 Commons Confidential: Kevin Maguire The pick of the best gossip from Westminster 16 Encounter: George Eaton meets the professor and Scottish government Covid-19 adviser Devi Sridhar Articles 20 Jeremy Cliffe on an election that has left America more divided than ever 24 Simon Heffer on a crisis of statesmanship in British government 30 Robert Colls on sport and belonging The Critics: Books 38 Ray Monk on a major new biography of the pioneering geneticist and communist sympathiser JBS Haldane 41 The NS Poem “Mist on the Curragh” by Steven O’Brien 42 Sophie McBain on what Christie Tate’s memoir Group tells us about the complex appeal of therapy 44 Simon Kuper compares two studies of the pitfalls of meritocracy by David Goodhart and Michael Sandel 46 NS Recommends Some of the best new reading 47 Ido Vock on Caste by Isabel Wilkinson, an examination of American racism and inequality New Statesman Vol 149, No 5545 ISSN 1364-7431 USPS 382260 Please note that all submissions to the letters page, our competitions and reader offers are accepted solely subject to our terms and conditions: details available on request or on our website. Subscription Rates: (institutional rates in brackets): UK £120, Airmail Europe: €150; Rest of world Airmail: USA $192. Subscribers paying by direct debit will, after any initial offer, be debited at the standard rate. Syndication/Permissions/Archive: Email: Permissions@newstatesman.co.uk. Printed by Walstead Peterborough Ltd, tel: +44 (0)1733 555 567 . Distribution by Marketforce. New Statesman (ISSN 1364-7431) is published weekly by New Statesman Ltd, 12-13 Essex Street, London WC2R 3AA, UK. Registered as a newspaper in the UK and USA Standard House, 12-13 Essex Street, London WC2R 3AA. Tel 020 7936 6400 4 | NEW STATESMAN | 6-12 NOVEMBER 2020
page 5
Cover art direction Erica Weathers Cover image André Carrilho End of the Earth: Erica Wagner on the Arctic 48 Radical and restless: Ray Monk on JBS Haldane 38 The Critics: Arts 48 Erica Wagner explores the unique culture of the Arctic, thanks to the British Museum 52 Michael Prodger on the pioneering landscapes of the Flemish painter Paul Bril 54 Film: Philippa Snow revisits Paz de la Huerta’s turn in Gaspar Noé’s Enter the Void 55 Television: Rachel Cooke watches the Nicole KidmanHugh Grant drama The Undoing 55 Radio: Anna Leszkiewicz is moved by a Lights Out episode marking the upcoming 40th anniversary of the 1981 New Cross house fire Back Pages 57 Nature John Burnside 58 Down and Out Nicholas Lezard 59 Deleted Scenes Pippa Bailey 60 Health Matters Phil Whitaker 61 Crossword, Subscriber of the Week and NS Word Games 62 The NS Q&A Dolly Alderton Artwork Cartoons, photographs and illustrations by Becky Barnicoat, André Bergamin, Alex Brenchley, Andrea De Santis, Andrew Evans, Grizelda, Kristian Hammerstad, Ian McGowan, Bob Rattray and Justin Renteria “The US is dangerously dependent on China for critical minerals” Graphics by Dan Murrell +What’s happening on newstatesman.com US election: the verdict Our international team analyse the results The PM’s Covid-19 mistakes Martin Fletcher on the government’s defining failures Nigel Farage’s antilockdown party Stephen Bush on the new project’s chances of success The NS Podcast Stephen Bush, Anoosh Chakelian and Ailbhe Rea discuss the week in Westminster and beyond, and (try to) answer listeners’ questions. Digital subscribers get early, ad-free episodes. newstatesman.com/podcast Helen Thompson, page 29 World Review Jeremy Cliffe and Emily Tamkin are joined by special guests to explore the forces shaping global affairs. newstatesman.com/ world-review-podcast Subscribe Save 50% Subscribe to the New Statesman for just £4.75 £2.31 a week. Turn to page 63 for more about the offer, or go to: newstatesman.com/ subscribe Just £120 for a one-year print subscription – even cheaper for students! Subscription inquiries: digital.subscriptions@ newstatesman.co.uk 0808 284 9422 Head of Marketing Charlotte Mullock 0808 284 9422 Marketing Manager Alfred Jahn Commercial Director Dominic Rae 020 7406 6758 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. 6-12 NOVEMBER 2020 | NEW STATESMAN | 5

Editor-in-chief Jason Cowley Head of Digital David Tomchak Deputy Editor Tom Gatti International Editor Jeremy Cliffe Political Editor Stephen Bush US Editor Emily Tamkin Creative Editor Gerry Brakus Business Editor Will Dunn Associate Editor Michael Prodger Senior Online Editor George Eaton Online Editor, International India Bourke Culture Editor Anna Leszkiewicz Features Editor Kate Mossman Special Projects Editor Alona Ferber Britain Editor Anoosh Chakelian Commissioning Editors Gavin Jacobson Lola Seaton Special Correspondents Harry Lambert Sophie McBain Political Correspondent Ailbhe Rea International Correspondent Ido Vock Head of Production Peter Williams Chief Sub-Editor Pippa Bailey Senior Sub-Editor Indra Warnes Sub-Editors Christiana Bishop Katherine Cowles Designer Emily Black Social Media Editor Eleanor Peake Digital Culture Writer Sarah Manavis Culture Assistant Ellen Peirson-Hagger Editorial Assistant Emily Bootle Contributing Writers John Bew Philip Collins Chris Deerin Edward Docx Matthew Engel Martin Fletcher John Gray Helen Lewis Shiraz Maher Paul Mason Adrian Pabst David Reynolds Leo Robson Brendan Simms Ed Smith Amelia Tait Johanna Thomas-Corr Helen Thompson Erica Wagner Rowan Williams

Contents Free thinking since 1913

Divided we fall: Jeremy Cliffe on America’s test 20

Head down: Simon Heffer on a crisis in government 30

Up Front

3 Leader 10 Correspondence

Columns

7 Jason Cowley on Boris Johnson’s failures in office 9 Stephen Bush on how voters exposed anti-Semitism in the Corbyn era 19 Philip Collins on why Keir Starmer needs to crack Labour’s “business problem” 23 Emily Tamkin on how the presidential election failed a nation craving certainty 29 Helen Thompson on the Sino-American energy rivalry 35 Louise Perry on how OnlyFans became the porn industry’s lockdown winner 36 Jonathan Liew asks why F1 champion Lewis Hamilton is so widely disliked

Observations

12 In the Picture 13 Comment: Salley Vickers on the case against lockdown 14 Commons Confidential: Kevin Maguire The pick of the best gossip from Westminster 16 Encounter: George Eaton meets the professor and Scottish government Covid-19 adviser Devi Sridhar

Articles

20 Jeremy Cliffe on an election that has left America more divided than ever 24 Simon Heffer on a crisis of statesmanship in British government 30 Robert Colls on sport and belonging

The Critics: Books

38 Ray Monk on a major new biography of the pioneering geneticist and communist sympathiser JBS Haldane 41 The NS Poem “Mist on the Curragh” by Steven O’Brien 42 Sophie McBain on what Christie Tate’s memoir Group tells us about the complex appeal of therapy 44 Simon Kuper compares two studies of the pitfalls of meritocracy by David Goodhart and Michael Sandel 46 NS Recommends Some of the best new reading 47 Ido Vock on Caste by Isabel Wilkinson, an examination of American racism and inequality

New Statesman Vol 149, No 5545 ISSN 1364-7431 USPS 382260

Please note that all submissions to the letters page, our competitions and reader offers are accepted solely subject to our terms and conditions: details available on request or on our website. Subscription Rates: (institutional rates in brackets): UK £120, Airmail Europe: €150; Rest of world Airmail: USA $192. Subscribers paying by direct debit will, after any initial offer, be debited at the standard rate. Syndication/Permissions/Archive: Email: Permissions@newstatesman.co.uk. Printed by Walstead Peterborough Ltd, tel: +44 (0)1733 555 567 . Distribution by Marketforce. New Statesman (ISSN 1364-7431) is published weekly by New Statesman Ltd, 12-13 Essex Street, London WC2R 3AA, UK. Registered as a newspaper in the UK and USA

Standard House, 12-13 Essex Street, London WC2R 3AA. Tel 020 7936 6400

4 | NEW STATESMAN | 6-12 NOVEMBER 2020

My Bookmarks


Skip to main content