Leader - A new-look politics
Leader
Monday 12th June 2006
It might seem strange, perverse even, to talk about the resurgence of radical politics at a time when the ruling party of the centre left is on the slide. The proposition might also be said to play into the hands of those who maintain that the left has never been interested in power. On both counts, critics would be wrong.
Politics is about more than the accretion of power. It is also about pursuing and embedding ideas. Thus Margaret Thatcher established an economic consensus that new Labour felt obliged to accept. In many areas where he might have shown courage, Tony Blair held back, desperate to locate himself in what he thought to be an unchangeable mainstream.
Opinion, however, shifted more quickly than he did, and for some time much of the political settlement created in Blair's name has been out of date. His miserabilist core of supporters, who accuse the left of running out of ideas, fail to see that it is they who have lost their bearings.
The left has regrouped. Issues once deemed peripheral - globalisation, human rights and the environment - are now the focus of popular activism.
Leaving aside the calamity of Iraq, this government has, in some areas, a record to be proud of. It has put down roots that will be hard to tear up. The other parties now accept as immutable the causes of social liberalism and social justice and the need for further constitutional reform.
As they shed unpopular and unrealistic policies, the Conservatives give the impression that they have dropped their view of tax cuts as a panacea. When David Cameron says (see interview, p30) that he embraces the ethos of the public sector and the merits of equality and redistribution, we would be wise to be cautious.
Yet if a Tory leader takes action or uses language that new Labour has recoiled from, and if in so doing he helps shift the political consensus in a favourable direction, he should be praised.
Voters now identify more with causes and issues than with parties. Tribal loyalties are breaking down. Similarly, the New Statesman sees itself as aligned not to any group, but to a modern and activist type of politics, which is only natural, given our proud nonconformist traditions.
When the NS came into being in 1913, Sidney and Beatrice Webb contributed a monumental series of articles entitled "What is Socialism?". Today some of what they wrote may seem prescriptive and dogmatic, and little more than a historical artefact.
Other parts of the Webb manifesto, however, stir different thoughts: they address the rights of women and children, internationalism and problems of national identity, the challenge of using the tax system to achieve greater equality and matters of personal responsibility. These relate to values that are both modern and much older than Marx: our belief in equality, justice and freedom. So often carved in stone, those words can sometimes cause embarrassment, yet they should underpin much that we do, and certainly most of what this magazine publishes.
Not long ago it was fashionable to suggest that belief, in the sense of political commitment, would die with Marxism. It did not.
Nor has idealism died. It is manifested all around us, in voluntary and charitable work, in the thoughtful letters that the NS receives from readers, in community activities, in NGOs and (yes) political parties, in marches, petitions and blogs, in courtrooms and theatres, in development projects, in every corner of our society.
What we call it, progressive, liberal or something else, hardly matters. What does matter is that in its diversity its presence should be recognised and shared, and that it should have the power and access to power that it deserves.
It has the capacity to advance the causes of equality, justice and freedom - the essential ingredients of any enlightened politics - in important ways.
This is the new radicalism, the new idealism. The New Statesman wants to play its part.
A new-look magazine
Small is beautiful has become the mantra of the newspaper industry. The broadsheet begat the compact begat the Berliner. Here at the NS we like to be contrary, and are driving in the opposite direction. The first thing you may notice about the new-look magazine is that it is taller and wider. It is also bigger (72 pages) and is printed on different paper. Why?
Quite simply we felt we had great articles in the NS, but that they were too often fighting for space. Now the journalism that we espouse - uncompromising, we hope, and thought-provoking - can flourish.
The cover breaks away from the tradition of the big single image, to emphasise the quality of the writing and the range of the content.
Our existing team of insightful writers is joined by admired new columnists: Rageh Omaar, Noreena Hertz, Clive Stafford Smith and from next week, Mark Lynas and Julian Clary. We introduce a culture section with an Ideas Corner, a technology column and Travels, a home for travel writing in the classic style.
To coincide with the new-look NS, we have increased the news-stand price to £2.95. That's still great value.
Alternatively you can take out a subscription that guarantees you will receive the magazine at your doorstep every week.
More scoops, more cutting-edge insights, a treat for the mind and the eye.
We think you'll like it.
This article first appeared in the New Statesman.
For the latest in current and cultural affairs take out a print or online subscription.
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