December 2019 issue
Inside the choice facing voters this General Election—and why the commission that regulates our democracy is struggling to keep up. Plus: Clive James on Wittgenstein, and the real story of Corbynism
Past issues
Essays
LLUSTRATION BY TIM MCDONAGH
Ken Loach: Rebel with a cause
Wendy Ide
Public trust in voting could be at risk. Photo: Prospect composite
How the Electoral Commission came to embody Britain's political crisis
Steve Bloomfield
Could randomly choosing citizens result in a better approach to democracy? Photo: Prospect composite
Belgium's experiment in a new kind of democracy
Eliane Glaser
Growing wild: a 17th-century fashion for tree-lined avenues such as those still seen at Chatsworth (background, centre) gave way to a more naturalistic style exemplified by St James’s Park, here depicted in the 18th century by John Inigo Richards
In an English country garden: inside the deep, surprisingly political roots of British gardening
Roderick Floud
A young man looks back after being rescued from a dinghy near the Malaga coast. Photo: ESUS MERIDA/SOPA IMAGES/LIGHTROCKET VIA GETTY IMAGES
Europe wants to send migrants home—but what happens when they get there?
Daniel Howden
Corbynism is about more than just Jeremy Corbyn. Photo: Prospect composite
Why Corbynism matters
Jack Shenker
Regulars
Editorial December 2019—An ugly election
Tom Clark
Lady Hale, illustrated by Nick Taylor
Lady Hale: "I try not to be too sure that I am right"
Brenda Hale
In numbers: the great political divide on taxing companies
Tom Clark
Young people enter a Jobcentre Plus in Liverpool. Photo: PA
Should Universal Credit be scrapped? Our contributors debate
P Wallace and D Ghelani
Letters: December 2019 issue
Prospect Team
Hannah Berry's cartoon: Santa Claus is coming to town
Hannah Berry
Prospect puzzle and crossword: December 2019
Prospect Team
Click to enlarge
Stephen Collins's cartoon: Christmas election time
Stephen Collins
Opinions
cap
Escaping the shadow of AV Dicey and putting parliament in its place
DAT Green
c
Economics and investment report: Venture Capital Trusts—worth the risk?
Andy Davis
The Bank of England—is inflation dead or just hibernating?
Economics and investment report: The spectre of “lowflation”
Duncan Weldon
Photo: Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg with Zelensky in October
An unlikely president will determine the future of Ukraine—and Donald Trump
Daniel Metcalfe
ca
Transport lessons from London
Bob Neill
English poet and Professor of Poetry in the University of Oxford, Sir Geoffrey Hill (1932 - 2016), United Kingdom, 2015. (Photo by Eamonn McCabe/Popperfoto via Getty Images)
Campaign in bad poetry—govern with the consequences
Jeremy Noel-Tod
Eton: locking in privilege—locking the Tories out of the opportunity debate. Photo: Shutterstock
I am quitting as an MP—to spend more time on real politics
Justine Greening
Mandatory Credit: Photo by ANDY RAIN/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock (10239625b) A pedestrian passes a street sign on Whitehall where cross- party talks over Brexit have been on-going in London, Britain, 17 May 2019. Talks over Brexit between the government and Labo
The civil service is having to prepare for a future it cannot possibly foresee
Catherine Haddon
aaa
Laying the groundwork for a transport revolution
John Armitt
Commuters fill the concourse at Waterloo Station. Photo: Shutterstock
Why new infrastructure investment is an environmental necessity
Andy McDonald
Arts & Books
The best theatre in December 2019—Spassky vs Fischer at Hampstead Theatre and the Duchess of Malfi at the Almeida
Michael Coveney
The best theatre in December 2019—Spassky vs Fischer at Hampstead Theatre and the Duchess of Malfi at the Almeida
Michael Coveney
Mandatory Credit: Photo by Massimo Percossi/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Two years on from the Weinstein revelations, what's changed?
Miranda France
Rachel Cusk Photo: Siemon Scamell-Katz/Faber
Rachel Cusk's essays fail to land their punches
Zoe Apostolides
Russian pilots and ground crew stand in front of a YAK-4 bomber at Poltava, Russia (US Air Force photo)
Operation Frantic: America and Russia's joint plan to battle the Nazis
Duncan Weldon
ILLUSTRATION BY ANDRÉ CARRILHO
Clive James (1939-2019): his final Late Reading column
Clive James
ILLUSTRATION BY ANDRÉ CARRILHO
Clive James (1939-2019): his final Late Reading column
Clive James
The best TV in December 2019—Imagining with Lenny Henry and Whistleblower
Chris Harvey
Renu, eldest sister of Shamima Begum holds her sister Shamima's photo. Photo: Laura Lean/PA Wire
Why do girls join Islamic State?
Kawther Alfasi
Victor Orban has reacted against westernisation (Photo by Michal Fludra/NurPhoto/PA Images)
How the post-1989 liberal dream became an illiberal nightmare
Mark Leonard
A man sweeps papers from the floor during the 1929 Wall Street crash. Photo: Nationaal Archief / Spaarnestad Photo, SFA001018144
From blockchain to the Wall Street crash, the stories we tell about economics have more power than we might think
Howard Davies
The best film in December 2019—Atlantics and Ordinary Love
Wendy Ide
Esther Duflo, who this year became only the second woman to win an economics Nobel Prize Photo: © PA/Roses Nicolas
Why modern capitalism hurts women—and why that needs to change
Sarah Smith
Acts of expressiveness: Mark Morris in 1984. Photo: Dee Conway/Bridgeman Images
I dance, you watch: Mark Morris, unfiltered
Jane Shilling
Harold Wilson was the first "televised" prime minister Photo: © Wikipedia, Allan Warren
What makes a good prime minister?
Alex Dean
The best opera and classical in December 2019—Otello at the ROH and Mascagni in Glasglow
Alexandra Coghlan
The best art and exhibitions in December 2019—Theaster Gates at Tate Liverpool and Judy Chicago at Gateshead
Emma Crichton-Miller
The best podcasts in December 2019—BBC's missing cryptoqueens and George the Poet
Charlotte Runcie
Eyes to the left: Margaret Thatcher watched by Geoffrey Howe at the Tory Party conference in 1990, a month before her fall from power. Photo: © SLATER/MIRRORPIX VIA GETTY IMAGES
The real reason Margaret Thatcher was brought down
Anthony Teasdale
Society and Culture
Liverpool winning the European Cup on a more dramatic night (Photo: Steve Hale/LFC)
Why is it so hard to fictionalise sport?
Benjamin Markovits
LLUSTRATION BY TIM MCDONAGH
Ken Loach: Rebel with a cause
Wendy Ide
Credit: Wellcome Library, London. Wellcome Images images@wellcome.ac.uk http://wellcomeimages.org Children playing with various toys, in the background are paintings of the Creation and the creation of Adam. Engraving by A. Bosse, 1636. Engraving 1636 By:
The way we were: playtime
Ian Irvine
Illustration: Kate Hazell
Why I am angry with everyone over Brexit—including myself
Cathy Rentzenbrink
Illustration: Kate Hazell
How studying classics taught me how to appreciate art
Charlotte Higgins
Collective intelligence of birds is of great interest to those working in AI. Illustrate: Kate Hazell
What starlings have to teach us about the wisdom of crowds
Cal Flyn
DNA kits can unearth the thing buried at the heart of so many families: secrets. Illustration: Kate Hazell
Thinking of buying a DNA testing kit for Christmas? You may find out more than you bargained for...
Hephzibah Anderson
About us Subscribe Contact us Submission guidelines Jobs and vacancies Corporate subscriptions
Facebook Twitter Linkedin
© 2024 Prospect Publishing Limited
Press Room Acceptable Use Terms of Use Contributor Terms & Conditions Privacy Complaints Advertise with us Advertising Guidelines