I’m not saying I actually enjoy being threatened with lawsuits, but it does rather depend on who’s doing the threatening.
This week we’ve had lawyers for GB News warning us that they are watching us closely. Which is fine, because they know damn well we’re watching them too. Alan Rusbridger’s investigation into their persistent breaches of Ofcom’s code on impartiality and accuracy has got them rattled. There’s plenty more to come on that, so keep in touch with the latest developments on our website and in the magazine.
The second legal warning came from Matt Goodwin, who assured us he would sue if we dared to print the James Ball article you will find printed on pages 20 and 21 of this week’s magazine.
Do read it – it includes an extraordinary incident that shaped Goodwin’s thinking.
So in this instance, I take being threatened twice in the same week to be an indication we are doing something right, though I am aware we are well short of any record. One of my journalistic heroes, the late, great Anthony Bevins (pictured here) – the maverick and brilliant political editor of The Times and The Independent – once turned up to the office to find thirteen legal letters waiting for his attention on his desk. Now that’s proper journalism!
Tony, who died tragically young 25 years ago last week, was a Toxteth-born Scouser whose energetic pursuit of truth, without a trace of deference for the politicians he scrutinised, would put to shame many of the client journalists operating in Westminster today. I often think about what he would do when confronted with a decision that requires some journalistic courage, and I hope his spirit lives on today in The New World.
This week is our Easter Special Edition. There’s plenty of great stuff to read; enough, I hope, to tide you over the next two weeks, since we will be taking a break next week and returning in print on April 16 – with a stupendously great extract from John Kampfner’s new book Braver New World. Something to look forward to!
In this week’s edition:
Philosopher-at-large Nigel Warburton wonders about the wisdom of using some of his colleagues to explain current affairs.
Alastair Campbell – diarist and podcast chart-topper – reveals his favourite podcasts. So if you’re looking for Easter break listening inspiration, start here.
Matthew d’Ancona has filed a brilliant long read on how MAGA ate itself – and how the seeds of this movement’s destruction were there from the beginning.
And Gregory Maniatis has filed a chastening argument about how Donald Trump is all our fault – and how the political centre can redeem itself.
Tanit Koch, our Germansplaining correspondent, explains the dilemma (die Zwickmühle) Germany’s transatlantic Chancellor finds himself in when dealing with Trump.
Cartoonist Tim Bradford has fun explaining the Secrets and Adventures of Morgan McSweeney’s phone.
Patience Wheatcroft assesses the challenges facing the Church of England’s new supremo, Sarah Mullally.
Paul Mason says Europe needs to end the US’s global economic dominance. And he’s got a plan for how to do it.
Photojournalist Harry James Relf goes inside what was once one of the most secretive organisations in the UK – the Freemasons. Wonderful words, wonderful images.
In a packed Arts and Culture section: Jeremy Blackmore races to finish his history of the Beatles; Matt Muir tells of the trials and tribulations behind the behemoth video game Star Citizen; Rosalind Ormiston delights in a new Kandinsky exhibition; Dale Shaw revisits the 1992 documentary series Sign of the Times; Lucy Ash is in Gdansk to report on the controversy of Poland’s newest museums; Lucy Reade loves the new Saturday Night Live UK show; John Bleasdale interviews the director behind the brilliant film Orwell: 2+2=5; Ian Winwood introduces us to Native American punk band Dead Pioneers; and James Hawes covers the future of the island of Ireland in about 700 words. His new book is, after all, called The Shortest History of Ireland.
Our scientist-at-large, Philip Ball, explains the concept of neutral technology and as ever, we close the magazine with our very own dilettante, Marie Le Conte, reflecting on lessons learned from the death of French superstar Leona.
I hope you get to enjoy some downtime this Easter. Do visit the website for daily treats, or download our app if you haven’t already – it’s a really enjoyable reading experience.
