New Statesman UK

Some had dubbed Starmer as “the Trump whisperer”, so how has this change in leader come across in the US? Do they even care? Mehdi Hasan, founder of Zeteo, joins us on The Exchange to discuss the view from across the pond and how Britain became a punching bag for the American right.

Australia has done it, now the UK follows – but is banning social media the best way to improve childhoods in today’s world? Jonathan Haidt, social psychologist and author of The Anxious Generation, joins Oli Dugmore.

“Nothing like this will happen again,” said the head barman of Garibaldi, an Italian restaurant in the sleepy German town of Baden-Baden, crying on a journalist’s shoulder. It was the 2006 World Cup, England had just lost to Portugal on penalties, and the wags who came, shopped, and conquered, were now leaving. Peak Wag only lasted a few weeks: Coleen McLoughlin brought a spray-tan technician and spent £57,000 in an hour; Victoria Beckham packed 60 pairs of sunglasses and complained about being

The ideal writing residency, I think, would last an entire lifetime, not be confined to any specific location, and leave you at leisure to write as much or as little as you liked. I’m recently back from a month-long writing residency in Hong Kong, during which I wrote nothing at all. Not a jot. I considered writing out there, moving forward with my next book, but after a few days I dropped the idea. Then I thought I might write about Hong Kong, my first visit to the region, the writing reside

Mehdi Hasan first rose to prominence as the New Statesman’s pugnacious political editor, a job he held from 2009 to 2012, and he hasn’t stopped picking fights since: his 2023 book was titled Win Every Argument. He moved from magazines to television, presenting shows on Al Jazeera and MSNBC, where he became a furious critic of the Israeli war in Gaza. In 2024, he founded his own media company, Zeteo, which is now establishing itself in Britain as Zeteo UK. He came on the New Statesman’s The Excha

America began on July 4, 1776, with the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. From that day onward, this unique “creedal” nation, the United States, has struggled to make good on this promise of liberty and equality for all – and struggles still. So goes the customary, tidy, stirring and Whiggish narrative that I and millions of other Americans were taught as schoolchildren. As recently as a decade ago, this account dominated, heartily endorsed by politicians from both parties, constan

King of the north, you say? That’s a matter of definition. Andy Burnham may have laid claim to the title, but John Swinney might point out that the UK extends significantly beyond Manchester. Given the independence movement’s republican tendencies, “king” is not a word the First Minister would associate himself with, but there is little doubt who rules over Northern Britain. The question, as we await the uncontested elevation of Burnham to Downing Street, is whether these two monarchs can work t

There is another job vacancy at the top of the Labour Party after General Secretary Hollie Ridley told staff that she is stepping down to allow a replacement “to work alongside a new leader once they are elected”. The general secretary role is essential to Labour’s fundraising and electioneering, as well as overseeing the internal governance of the party. Ridley, a Keir Starmer ally, was chosen in a speedy, single-candidate selection shortly after Labour’s 2024 election win. Labour’s leader-i

One in three adults in the United Kingdom has high blood pressure. It remains the single biggest modifiable risk factor for stroke, heart attack and kidney failure. At a time when we are rightly focused on pressures facing the NHS, the challenges of an ageing population and the cost of treating preventable conditions, it is worth considering whether our policy framework on one of the country’s most common and serious conditions is keeping pace with developments in clinical evidence. Last w

It seems that every conversation about public service reform involves technology. Artificial intelligence to help GPs manage caseloads. Platforms to run council services online rather than in person. Tools to cut bureaucracy so that teachers can teach and social workers can do social work. Digital ID to verify who you are. These technologies are real and their potential is genuine. But there is a more basic question that rarely gets asked: is our network infrastructure fit for the task? Th

I don’t know, as an American, what I imagined our 250th anniversary might look like. Yet as 4 July arrives, the day of the big birthday bash, I only feel somewhat numb. I am not cynical about the anniversary, but I am also not terribly interested. This is not an outlier opinion. Many Americans are only minimally engaged. In every way, this is a peculiar time to celebrate what remains the most consequential, fascinating and dangerous country on Earth. Americans themselves are not in a triumpha

The revolution was born on a Zoom call. On 3 July 2025, more than 20 assorted faces of the British left assembled online. Among them were intensely well known public figures, and others who have spent decades working behind the scenes of political life. It was the eve of the first anniversary of Keir Starmer’s loveless landslide; but the meeting was not to discuss the Labour Party.  The group had gathered informally to discuss the creation of a long-prophesied and brand new left-wing party. J

The same woman who sang “take me to the Lakes where all the poets went to die”, can – from the bottom of her artificial heart – sing of sex with her fiancé, “Redwood tree, it ain’t hard to see / His love was the key that opened my thighs”. And yet, these are the vast gradations contained within Taylor Swift. A fractured, splintered woman who once anxiously asked her muse, “would it be enough if I could never give you peace?” and is now marrying another one in Madison Square Garden, about the mos

What is the Green Party up to? As the Labour Party awaits the coronation of Andy Burnham, their opponents are setting out plans for how to approach this new administration. Burnham’s victory in the Makerfield by-election seemed to swallow the Green vote, leaving them on just 0.7 per cent and costing their deposit. But for Zack Polanski’s Green Party, the arrival of a more left-wing government led by Burnham in No 10 could prove an opportunity as much as a challenge.  There are differing opini

Our economy doesn’t work for ordinary people because we have been on the wrong path for far too long.  The consequences have been corrosive: a loss of trust in institutions, people feeling left behind and forgotten. The truth is that we have too often been timid – tinkering around the edges of a broken system. But by avoiding structural change, we risk confirming the right-wing populists’ narrative: that “the establishment can only do more of the same”. When the British people voted in a Labo

Morgan McSweeney, the former No 10 chief of staff, has given his first broadcast interview to the BBC’s Nick Robinson on his Political Thinking podcast. McSweeney made his first public appearance at the Foreign Affairs Committee in April but this is the first time he has sat down for an on the record conversation with a journalist. He spoke at length about the course of the Starmer government in which he was perhaps the key player other than the Prime Minister himself. Here are five things we

On Monday, Andy Burnham, our Prime Minister in waiting, set out his vision for the country. At the heart of it is a devolution revolution – a massive shift of power away from Westminster and Whitehall towards local communities. It’s exactly the kind of bold reform we need to overcome decades of decline. I still work as a GP, as well as MP for Stroud, and on the train back down from Manchester I got to thinking about what Manchesterism could mean for our health service.  The three mantra

For three long years, Benjamin Netanyahu has led his country through its longest-ever, largest-ever war yet still managed to survive at the top of Israeli politics. The war defied every received wisdom of how long Israel can survive a multi-front conflict, socially, militarily and economically. It eroded any remaining reservations about the use of force in Israel, normalising extreme violence to an extent not seen before. And it accomplished tactical successes few would have thought possible: th

During a shift in an NHS mental health crisis team, I’m visiting a woman who’s been feeling suicidal. She tentatively welcomes me into her flat and asks if I’d like a cup of tea. I’ve got multiple visits to make and I want to get started, so I politely decline.  She looks a little disappointed and asks if I’m sure. I sense it’s important to her, and I do quite fancy a cup of tea), so I relent and accept her offer. In that moment, the dynamic of our interaction shifts in a subtle but vital way

I received a letter from the British Columbia Colon Screening Programme (BCCSP) recently. Like the NHS in the UK, this programme recommends faecal immunochemical tests (Fit) – stool samples that check for microscopic traces of blood – every two years to screen 50- to 75-year-olds for bowel cancer. They’d been trying without success to get feedback from one of my patients who had been referred for a colonoscopy following a positive Fit– could I give them information instead? I knew why they’d hea