Melville House Books

Death of a statesman? That’s how some prominent commentators are viewing the recent political turn of The New Statesman, Britain’s most established left wing magazine. Describing itself as a combination of “great writing, fresh ideas and provocative debate”, the magazine was founded in 1913 by an illustrious committee including Sidney and Beatrice Webb, Bernard Shaw and several leading Fabians. The current editors are not entirely sure of the founders’ intentions: according to the history section of the website, the initial aim was to propagate socialist ideals; however, Clifford Sharp, the first editor, wrote: “We did not merely profess to have no political affiliations, we had none.” The website goes on to boast of “continually upsetting everyone” during the First World War, implying that this noble tradition continues today.

Would that it did! That’s the view of leftie princess Suzanne Moore, at any rate. In a bewildering move, she wrote a column for last week’s Mail on Sunday (well known to MobyLives readers as the home of steamingly racist, sexist and other “ist” invective) announcing her resignation as contributing editor to the magazine. The catalyst was the choice of Alistair Campbell, spin doctor to the “socialist” stars, as guest editor for last week’s edition. Moore cites the cover –- a photo of Campbell with Sir Alex Ferguson, owner of Manchester United Football Club –- as a perfect example of the gradual dumbing down: “Inside, it’s as if the past ten years had never happened. There is no mention of Iraq and Afghanistan, Cameron is useless and everyone will vote for Gordon. Talk about civil liberties is just chattering-class waffle.” The “once great organ” that opposed the Iraq War is now handing over editorial rights to the man who orchestrated it. Left no longer.

All very well, but why did she choose the Mail to tell us all? Campbell, never known to avoid crushing his enemies, told Owen Bowcott at The Guardian: “professing commitment to leftwing values in that rightwing rag lends a somewhat weakened credibility to anything she says.” I hate the man –- but he’s got a point. Bowcott’s article also quotes the current editor, Jason Cowley, who sees her choice of platform as “ironic”. She is, however, supported by ex-political editor Martin Bright, who “can see why she felt upset” and the ever-acerbic Nick Cohen, whose breakup with The New Statesman was famously acrimonious.

What can we really expect of a magazine that is co-owned by Geoffrey Robinson, a Labour MP who is also one of Britain’s wealthiest men, and Michael Danson, a back-bedroom entrepreneur? Are these the people who are going to challenge and redefine the Left? Or are they in fact more likely to use their considerable resources to prop up the status quo? That the vaunted lack of political affiliations is ancient history was made clear in January this year, when the magazine refused to acknowledge the National Union of Journalists. Allowing Tony Blair to spout off about his notions of religion in the recent issue was just an afterthought. It’s almost enough to make me long for a good old-fashioned repressive Tory government. At least then there would be a clear enemy.