The New Statesman | UK politics and culture

Seven per cent of British children attend private school – a tiny minority – and yet they retain a grip on our elite institutions. The latest figures show that 65% of judges, 44% of newspaper columnists and 23% of MPs were independently educated. Fee-paying schools, however, do not merely cater for the privileged few, but hard-working aspirational parents who want the best for their children. They also allow for a quality that is essential in all aspects of raising children: choice. Is this two-tier system an archaic injustice that needs total reform? Or is it the route to a better education for all?This debate was recorded at the Cambridge Literary Festival. You can watch and listen to more on cambridgeliteraryfestival.com

In our teenage years, music can be everything. But as we age, our relationship with music changes.Alice Vincent was a music journalist for many years, and in this frank conversation tells Kate Mossman how childbirth, PTSD and depression turned her love of music into something darker. In her new book, Hark: How women listen, Alice recounts her quest to rediscover the power of music as an adult, a mother and after mental health battles. In this conversation, Alice and Kate discuss how her quest took her from an anechoic chamber in south London to the Mojave desert - and how music is finally returning to her life.Hark: How women listen is available to buy here: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/11114/9781805302063Read Kate Mossman's review here: https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/books/book-of-the-day/2025/04/sounds-that-shape-us

“Having moved on from Blue Labour, which other policies will Turquoise Labour adopt from the far right?"; “Given that they are a break on everything, should the Treasury department be abolished?”; “What would happen if Labour and the Conservatives got completely wiped out at the general election and the Lib Dems and Greens also had bad polling results and the Reform party suddenly lost its mojo? Could a government function or would King Charles have to step in?”Anoosh Chakelian is joined by Andrew Marr and Rachel Cunliffe to answer listener questions.Sign up to the New Statesman's daily politics newsletter: Morning Call Submit a question for a future episode: You Ask Us

This week saw potentially the boldest moment of Keir Starmer’s leadership, as the Government announced its white paper - Restoring Control over the Immigration System. According to the Prime Minister, it marks a a significant overhaul of UK immigration policy.The headlines, however, have been less kind - focussing on the wording of his speech announcing the plans, specifically on the phrase ‘island of strangers’... Some were quick to compare this to Enoch Powell’s infamous ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech in which Powell talks of white British people becoming ‘strangers in their own country’.Hannah Barnes is joined by Andrew Marr and Rachel Cunliffe.Sign up to the New Statesman's daily politics newsletter: Morning Call Submit a question for a future episode: You Ask Us

For the first time, the Conclave of cardinals at the Vatican have elected an American pope.Pope Leo XIV has ascended to the papacy following the death of his modernising predecessor, Pope Francis.Katie Stallard is joined by writer Madoc Cairns and the New Statesman’s Finn McRedmond to discuss Francis’s legacy and Leo’s future.Read: Pope Francis's illusionsRead: Pope Leo XIV's centrist papacy

2025 marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of Joseph Mallord William Turner, widely celebrated as Britain's greatest landscape painter. --YOUR NEXT EPISODE:The untold story of Picasso's muses--Yet, beyond the familiar image of the "painter of light", Turner was a complex figure whose radical art often baffled his contemporaries.Tom Gatti meets the New Statesman’s art critic, Michael Prodger, to explore why Turner still matters – and how themes in his work like the power of nature, the impact of technology, and national identity resonate profoundly today. READ: The second birth of JMW Turner, by Michael Prodgerhttps://www.newstatesman.com/culture/art-design/2025/04/the-second-birth-of-jmw-turnerLISTEN AD-FREEDownload the New Statesman app: iOS / AndroidSTAY IN TOUCHGet our best writing every weekend in The Saturday Read email newsletterSUBSCRIBEGet full access to the New Statesman by becoming a subscriber

The team answer questions on the Green party's charisma issue, how Reform's power in local council could hurt their overall polling, and whether too many Lib Dems are vegan.Rachel Cunliffe is joined by Ben Walker, Megan Kenyon, and George Eaton.Listen to our episode on constitutional issuesSubmit a question for a future episode: You Ask Us

Tom McTague, the incoming editor of the New Statesman, joins Andrew Marr to discuss Labour's rocky week following Reform's dramatic wins, the India and US trade deals, and also his vision for the future of the publication.Read more: New Statesman International Submit a question for a future episode: You Ask Us

The far right now makes up a third of terrorism convictions and a majority of referrals to the governments Prevent counter-radicalisation schemeBut what fuels the far-right and how influential are they becoming?Harry Shukman, journalist and researcher at HOPE not hate, an anti-fascist organisation, went undercover with the British far right to find out how these groups operate, their plans for changing Britain, and the conversations that go on behind closed doors, far away from voters’ doorsteps.