For some time now I have found myself buying the Spectator rather than the New Statesman. Not because I am a Conservative (whatever that means nowadays) and I do still consider myself on the left (whatever that means nowadays). I buy the Spectator because it has a certain intellectual elan, and I would rather be challenged by fluent, provocative writers than the usual suspects in the Statesman. Perhaps the new editor at the Statesman, Jason Cowley, will change this. I hope so because the left certainly needs an intellectual revival.
Meanwhile, as I was recently discussing with another contributor to HP, the centre-right seems to have much more intellectual confidence, and be willing to challenge received wisdoms. Standpoint magazine is a new centre-right monthly, an obvious competition for the worthy Prospect, although not all of its contributors are on the right. Nick Cohen writes for it and I have a piece on the website about the ongoing tragi-comedy at the UN Human Rights Council.
