Letter of the week: Small government
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Andrew Marr writes of 'the spreading perception that democratic politics is failing' (Politics, 20 June), but makes no mention of the one issue I would suggest is key to this: illegal immigration, and the small-boats 'crisis' in particular. This is not to do with the actual number of arrivals, which is tiny compared to other forms of immigration, but the failure of successive administrations to solve this issue, which feeds a crisis in trust.
It reminds me of a story told about the former Labour MP Lena Jeger when she was campaigning in 1953 in Holborn and St Pancras. For Jeger, the issue of the day was the rearmament of West Germany. When canvassing in a block of council flats, she noticed the smell of urine in the lift. One woman listened patiently to Jeger's pitch about the folly of rearming the Germans, and then asked whether she'd used the lift. 'Stinks of pee, doesn't it? Can't you stop 'em peeing in our lift?'
'I don't think I can,' replied Jeger. 'Well,' said the woman, 'if you can't stop 'em peeing in our lift, how can you expect me to believe you can stop the Germans rearming?' If the Labour government cannot resolve the small-boats issue, then talk of all the other areas and initiatives mentioned by Marr will be for nought.
Daniel Callaghan, Ealing, London W13
New times, new thinking
Once again the New Statesman has shown how change can be managed: under a new editor the best of the old, expansion of the familiar, immensely welcome new contributors, thoughtful focus on new ideas, but no drastic alterations to the trusted formula of more than a century.
Veronica Baker-Smith, Pangbourne, Berks
Light touch
The latest Sketch piece by Matt Chorley (20 June) tickled me pink. After years of doom and gloom in the news, and cancel culture bottling up comedians, a piece that evenly takes a dig at all sides is a welcome relief. More servings of mirth and terrible puns please.
Charles Lambert, London SW15
Cautious optimism
David Miliband (World View, 13 June) describes a Damascus ice cream store being as 'packed as it was… in 2008'. Bashar al-Assad kept Syria together and reasonably well off until the Arab Spring. The new regime will face the same problem as him: some opposition will be seen as dangerous and have to be suppressed. For a while the country, exhausted by war, will be quiet, but every government resists being overthrown. Let us hope Syria succeeds where so many have failed.
Alice Edwards, Wokingham, Berks
Breakfast of champions
Pescatarian Keir Starmer (Cover Story, 13 June) must have had an alternative motive for his breakfast choice of 'plain, untouched baked beans', as I am sure the Royal Navy could have furnished him with eggs, mushrooms, grilled tomatoes and potentially even hash browns. A sign of a return to austerity, perhaps?
Colin Paine, Horsforth, Leeds
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Literature's last stand
Hearty congratulations to James Marriott for his brilliant article on the decline of literature (The New Society, 13 June). His remark to his interviewers at Oxford, that 'literature shows us what it is or might be to be human', is spot on: certainly Dickens, TS Eliot and George Eliot, to name just a few, have taught me far more about that than the 'vulgar parvenu' of psychology, which I studied in the 1960s. I looked upon those people who studied English with envy. The fate of literature may not be the cause of catastrophe in our civilisation, or vice versa, but, as Marriott says, I too fear they might be coterminous.
Nigel Austin, Dorchester, Dorset
Power of writing
Reading Pippa Bailey's Deleted Scenes (20 June) on the death of her father brought tears to my eyes. It was a deeply moving account of personal loss that also managed to be universal. It cannot have been an easy piece to write, but I am so glad she did and shared it with us. Honest, powerful and underlying the importance of human connections – writing like this is why I read the New Statesman. Thank you.
John Adcock, Ashtead, Surrey
Lezard spins eternal
Returning to the New Statesman after several years, I was pleased to find that, in a world getting madder by the day, Lezard remains, spinning, as always, a thread of comforting continuity. Wonderful.
Patrick O'Brien, Capel Seion, Aberystwyth
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[See also: Keir Starmer faces war on all fronts]
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Glasgow Times
9 minutes ago
- Glasgow Times
Starmer: Labour will not take away ‘safety net' from vulnerable people
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Wales Online
9 minutes ago
- Wales Online
Labour's Welsh secretary thinks Plaid Cymru and Reform UK are no different to one another
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Telegraph
13 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Albanian PM: We'll take every criminal back if Farage is right
Albania's prime minister has pledged to take back all his country's prisoners in the UK in an escalating row with Nigel Farage over how many of them are in jail. The Reform UK leader challenged Edi Rama on Friday to take back Albanian criminals after accusing him of hypocrisy over comments he made about Britain having become a 'dark place' after withdrawing from the EU. Mr Farage said it was hypocritical to describe the UK as a dark place when one in 50 Albanians in Britain were currently in prison in the UK. The Reform leader, who was shown on opinion polls to be the public's favourite to be the UK's next prime minister on opinion polls, urged Mr Rama to 'show some goodwill and take them all back tomorrow'. Mr Rama, who stands at 6ft 7in tall, has now taken to X to post his response, saying that if Mr Farage's figure was right, he would take all the criminals back and if wrong, he would invite him to Albania as his guest of honour as long as he promised never to badmouth the country again. 'Ooopsss… Mr Nigel Farage himself has just challenged me on the facts!' said Mr Rama in his tweet. 'What an honour – for a 'giant man', as he described me (meaning, of course, from a 'tiny country') – to earn the attention of Britain's unrivalled virtuoso of headline politics. 'He said – and I quote: 'I tell you what, Mr Rama, did you know one in 50 Albanians in Britain are in prison? So show some goodwill and take them all back tomorrow, because this is hypocrisy.' Mr Rama went on to claim Mr Farage's figure was 'bonkers' and a 'classic from the post-truth Brexit playbook'. He added that many Albanians are caught up in an 'outdated and restrictive visa system', but said their rate of criminality 'would be no higher – and likely lower than – that of the British population itself'. He continued: 'Let's both bring our numbers to the table. If your 'one in 50' claim holds water – I will personally commit to taking them all back. That's not a competing headline – it's a public pledge. 'But if your scary stat turns out to be just tabloid fuel, then no apology needed. No drama. Instead, you'll come to Albania – as my guest of honour ... And all I ask in return is the simplest public pledge from you, made while enjoying our country: next time someone badmouths Albanians, you'll be the first to tell them – in your histrionic way – not to do it again.' Ooopsss… Mr. @Nigel_Farage himself has just challenged me on the facts! What an honor — for a "giant man," as he described me (meaning, of course, from a "tiny country") — to earn the attention of Britain's unrivaled virtuoso of headline politics. He… — Edi Rama (@ediramaal) June 27, 2025 Speaking to The Telegraph, Mr Farage said he would take up the challenge. 'We will hold Edi Rama to his pledge!' he said. The statistic Mr Farage cited was first reported by The Telegraph when the newspaper compiled a league table of nations based on data from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and Office for National Statistics (ONS). This showed there were 10,435 foreign nationals in jails in England and Wales compared to 76,866 British nationals. Nations with fewer than 20 people in UK jails were excluded because of the low sample size. This was cross-referenced with ONS 2021 census data, from which was extracted the number of foreign nationals from each country who do not have a UK passport. There may be some margin for error as some foreign nationals could have been granted citizenship but not applied for a passport. The Albanian imprisonment rate was 232.33 per 10,000 people – or one in 50. This was calculated based on the census data showing 68,672 foreign-born Albanians lived in the UK. Excluding the 15,860 without a UK passport gives a total of some 52,000. With 1,227 in jail, it equates to two per cent of Albanians. The original spark for the row was Mr Farage's attack on Mr Rama after the socialist leader criticised post-Brexit Britain. He said Sir Keir Starmer's plan to send failed asylum seekers abroad to hubs in Europe demonstrated that post-Brexit Britain is in 'a very dark place'. Mr Rama said Britain was 'looking for places to dump migrants' – a concept he claimed would have been unthinkable a decade ago.
