The New Statesman & Elections: The Song Remains the Same
There has been a certain media hoo-ha about the fact that the current issue of the New Statesman has an Editorial that while calling for an anti-Tory vote doesn’t back Labour.
A lot more could be said but let’s confine ourselves to specifics.
Much of the commentary came from people like the Daily Mail’s Andrew Pierce, or Tory early morning tweeter Matt Hancock. Perhaps they glance at the NS from time to time but I’m fairly certain they are not subscribers (as I am and have been since time immemorial).
Of course the tradition is that many read the NS for the back half, the arts and culture, but obviously I also read the front. I don’t always agree with it, but the Spectator it is not.
In 2017 the New Statesman Election Editorial read in part:
Labour’s historic mission is to redress the power of capital and defend the labour interest for the common good. The mission of the Conservatives is to be the party of the moneyed interest and to defend the market state.
Britain does not have a presidential system. When we cast our vote at an election we do so for an individual candidate in a particular constituency. Many admirable Labour candidates are struggling to hold on to their seats – including, at random, Jon Cruddas in Dagenham, Holly Lynch in Halifax, Jess Phillips in Birmingham Yardley, Alison McGovern in Wirral South, Peter Kyle in Hove and Wes Streeting in Ilford North – because of the invidious position they have been put in by the party’s leadership.
So when you cast your vote on 8 June remember that you are voting not for a party leader but for an individual candidate. That distinction matters.
In 2019 the New Statesman Editorial reads in part
We are not without hope of meaningful change & urge all our readers to vote, tactically if necessary, to deprive Mr Johnson’s hard Brexit Conservatives of a majority. There are many fine Parliamentarians from all parties- Luciana Berger, Joanna Cherry, Jess Philips, Rosie Duffield, Jim McMahon, Dan Jarvis, Sarah Wollaston, Rachel Reeves to name only a few- who fortitude and resilience are admirable…. Readers should judge their local candidate on his or her merits and commitment to social reforms, to green public investment, to civic values and to progressive politics.
The song actually remains much the same and I’m still voting Labour btw. Who cares what NS Editorials say, aside it would appear from Tories? It is actually a very one-sided take on a controversial issue with apparently no grasp that there are other views and perspectives on the matter.
Leave a Reply