Anyway! What are the Lib Dems up to? Do they feel sidelined by Farage and Polanski, or do they think being the party that fixes the church roof (and campaigns on rubbish mountains and water scandals) is right where they ought to be? A dispatch from Lib Dem land www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...

My reflection on the True Grift genre, from the Coughing Major to the Salt Path:

My reflection on the True Grift genre, from the Coughing Major to the Salt Path:

Does hope lie in people's love of their local place, even if national pride has taken a hit? My Christmas issue column reflecting on what I've got wrong about Broken Britain: bsky.app/profile/anoo...

Does hope lie in people's love of their local place, even if national pride has taken a hit? My Christmas issue column reflecting on what I've got wrong about Broken Britain: bsky.app/profile/anoo...

Fascinating and beautiful piece of magazine journalism by Kate Mossman on the plane that was nearly crashed by a passenger nine months before 9/11:

"A traditional left/right divide on the economy is one reason why a Conservative Party that appeared moribund is suddenly showing signs of life." Fascinating piece by @georgeeaton.bsky.social on the conventional "thermostatic" politics beneath the chaotic surface:

Optimism is currently unfashionable. The newly published Community Life Survey asks, "do you agree or disagree that this local area is a place where people from different backgrounds get on well together?" I wondered if we might see a sharp decline this year; it has gone down 1%, to 80% agreement.

This year - one of both mat leave and reporting travels around the country - I've found an alternative story to the "Broken Britain" narrative. My column for the @newstatesman1913.bsky.social Christmas issue:

'Headlines are of course gloomy, and voters may be losing faith in their leaders, but they still love where they live.' > spot on by @anooshc.bsky.social www.newstatesman.com/politics/soc....

Some thoughts on Bondi Beach, the sliding doors surreality of knowing my sister could have been there, and how it feels to be lighting candles tonight to celebrate our resilience www.newstatesman.com/world/2025/1...

This year - one of both mat leave and reporting travels around the country - I've found an alternative story to the "Broken Britain" narrative. My column for the @newstatesman1913.bsky.social Christmas issue:

Revealing interview by @pronouncedalva.bsky.social with Wes Streeting, who accuses Labour of acting as a “maintenance department for the country”:

I wish I'd known about the concept of "complicated grief" when I wrote about Hamnet. thecritic.co.uk/issues/decem...

My piece on why Britain's inquiry culture is no good for victims:

Some wild details in this incredible profile of Nigel Farage in America by @freddiehayward.bsky.social: www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...

My piece on why Britain's inquiry culture is no good for victims:

Welcome to Britain, a country so short of dentists that an MP's 87-year-old mum pulled her teeth out with pliers. Also a country with thousands of foreign-qualified dentists who can’t work until they pass an exam so oversubscribed it’s like trying to book Glasto tickets. www.ft.com/content/f4e5...

"Each socio-economic group – and viewers from any other category – could adopt Parr as their own, the chronicler of an inherently ridiculous people: that is, not them." Michael Prodger is so brilliant on Martin Parr:

Fascinating vignette by Kate Mossman reflecting on John Lennon's death:

Ahead of our end of year Data Insights session (sign up here! Featuring special guest @anooshc.bsky.social from the New Statesman www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/turning-th...) I wrote something very short on the 2 child limit, living standards and political ambition medium.com/p/9e10a39f80cf

Moving piece by @anooshc.bsky.social on reading to her toddler and why the Bookstart scheme is a model of progressive universalism. www.newstatesman.com/politics/soc...

On reading with my toddler, and proportionate universalism - my column for the @newstatesman1913.bsky.social's books special issue:

How reading with my toddler provided unexpected lessons in policymaking - my column for this week's @newstatesman1913.bsky.social books special:

This by @anooshc.bsky.social is brilliant - what Roar! Roar! I'm a Dinosaur! (or its availability to all) can tell us about the way we used to do things, and could again. Proportionate Universalism Now!

What baby books taught me about the British state The Bookstart scheme, which gives books to newborns, is a remnant from a more beneficent political era By @anooshc.bsky.social www.newstatesman.com/politi...

‘The idea that every newborn in the UK ends up with the same book in the bottom of their pram or beside their cot, at the same time in their lives, feels like the closest thing infants have to a water-cooler moment.’ Enjoyed this from @anooshc.bsky.social www.newstatesman.com/politics/soc...

How reading with my toddler provided unexpected lessons in policymaking - my column for this week's @newstatesman1913.bsky.social books special:

Lessons in universalism from reading 'Space Baby', 'Roar! Roar! I'm a Dinosaur!' and 'All Aboard Train' with my toddler. My column for the @newstatesman1913.bsky.social books special:

This week's New Statesman column is about what Angela Rayner is up to now, whether she wants to be leader, and the soft left's determination to stop Wes Streeting becoming PM www.newstatesman.com/politics/lab...

Lessons in universalism from reading 'Space Baby', 'Roar! Roar! I'm a Dinosaur!' and 'All Aboard Train' with my toddler. My column for the @newstatesman1913.bsky.social books special:

In car-boot Britain, “petty crime” has turned professional. Robert Jenrick is wrong – the problem is organised crime. 🖊️ @anooshc.bsky.social

My column for this week's @newstatesman1913.bsky.social - on how organised crime is creeping into the banal day-to-day:

My column for this week's @newstatesman1913.bsky.social - on how organised crime is creeping into the banal day-to-day:

"Benefits Street" rhetoric is back. But will it work this time round? I argue not. www.newstatesman.com/politics/soc...

Benefits Street is a two-way one - my piece on why this rhetoric might not resonate as much this time round:

Benefits Street is a two-way one - my piece on why this rhetoric might not resonate as much this time round:

The cruelty of Kemi Badenoch’s “Benefits Street” politics “Scroungers” are back, courtesy of the Conservative party and the right-wing press 🖊️ @anooshc.bsky.social

Bingo! My recent column on the politics of a gambling tax:

Want to know what's been going on behind the scenes leading up to Budget day? @pronouncedalva.bsky.social has the inside track in her brilliant cover story this week:

Tomorrow’s Budget will see the Chancellor set out tax and spending plans - a tricky sell in a challenging economic landscape. A new essay by @anooshc.bsky.social explores how a major spending commitment - Pride in Place - could shift the odds for communities turning their local areas around.

Great interview with Jeremy Corbyn by the brilliant @meganekenyon.bsky.social - who knows all there is to know about the alternative left in Britain:

My column this week on the Kirstie Allsopp Theory of Housing:

Great scoop by Megan Kenyon:

The Kirstie Allsopp theory of housing is completely warping our view of home ownership, writes @anooshc.bsky.social

My column this week on the Kirstie Allsopp Theory of Housing:

A big lesson from Denmark, regarding the substance of the policies now being pursued by the Home Secretary, is that making the status of asylum seekers so precarious directly harms integration, something we've actually been historically very good at in Britain.

Excellent cover story by @willdunn.bsky.social who has the inside track on the bond markets influencing the Budget - feat. the incredible bit of an analysis by one investor who found each welfare rebel MP equals a *£1bn* debt premium over the Parliament...

Why should people who “look like” the home secretary be on the hook for immigration policy? This is great by @stephenkb.bsky.social:

Includes this titbit -