Letters

A democracy in crisis

Life, it is often said, hangs by a thread. Liberal

Contributors

Lisa Appignanesi is chair of the Royal Society of Literature.

Optimism used to provide its own grounds for hope in elections. But not anymore

Yes, we can. Things can only get better.

The UK university admissions system doesn’t make the grade

Modern lives are built around the academic year, as

The sound of leather on willow still provides the heartbeat of Deep England

Right now, moments of national unity seem worth cherishing.

Locking down election dates has left us in a fix. The lesson? Think before you reform

Boris Johnson’s shocking move to suspend parliament

Cruel but not unusual

Torture is supposed to be an absolute wrong: a thing

Putin’s man in Europe

Last autumn, three Italians travelled to Moscow to

HOW THE DEAL DIED

Britain has spent three years refusing to face up to

THE WAITING ROOM

Britain’s journey to high-speed rail travel has been costly, complex and steeped in denial.

The world’s top 50 thinkers

Tens of thousands voted to choose the world’s top thinker from the 50 names we presented in our last issue. Here we speak to the winner, Cambridge mathematician Caucher Birkar, and overleaf reveal the rest of the top 10— and the names you said we missed

The Weimar warning

Democracies die when politicians give up on their own parliaments

Fixer or fighter?

Unite boss Len McCluskey is often painted as a left-wing ideologue. But does he have a more pragmatic side? And what might that mean for Brexit?

Think again. Think Prospect

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RAGE AGAINST THE VACCINE

Childhood inoculation rates are falling—and the government is pinning the blame on the rise of antivaccine campaigns. But is it that simple?

The man who wasn’t there

The death of philosopher RG Collingwood at just 53 not only cut off an eclectic and questioning mind in its prime, but allowed the narrower and more imperious Gilbert Ryle to dominate British philosophy. Had Collingwood lived, could the deep and damaging schism with continental thought have been avoided?

Irrepressible tastes

Susan Sontag’s colourful personal life shouldn’t blind us to her fierce moral vision, argues Lisa Appignanesi

Secrets in stereo

Mathematics has been able to predict real-world phenomena with astonishing accuracy. But how that link works is still a mystery, says Marcus Chown

Apocalypse now

Despite the increasing acknowledgement that we are

Making the cut

The witty art of collage finally gets its due, says Emma Crichton-Miller

Books in brief

15 Minutes of Power: The Uncertain Life of British

Recommends

Emma Crichton-Miller

Prospectlife

Home front

An ultralight life

Acouple of summers ago, my partner Richard and I rode

The science of salaries

I once heard of an academic who used to do the rounds

Flowery language

My elder brother and his partner both trained as botanists

The arrival of autumn

The way we were

OCD RIP

My friend John and I are on a mission: flying to Luxembourg

Policy report: conference special

As MPs gather for conference season, Brexit dominates

Northern transport

Are Johnson’s promises enough?

Life-long learning

Robert Halfon Conservative MP for Harlow and Chair

Climate change

Ed Davey Liberal Democrat MP for Kingston and Surbiton

Economics and investment

The analyst: Duncan Weldon Associate Economics Editor

Think Tank Awards 2019

All the winners from our most competitive field yet

Events

The Prospect Book Club meets every third Monday of the month at 6.30pm at 2 Queen Anne’s Gate, London, SW1H 9AA. To book tickets visit prospectmagazine.co.uk/events

The generalist by Didymus

Seventeen clues lead to solutions which include numbers.

Enigmas & puzzles

Antwit, Babble and Crumble are three teenagers such

Brief encounter

Green Party MP for Brighton Pavilion

HOW TO STOP THE HACKERS

Criminals and aggressive foreign states are wreaking havoc online. Can the UK defend itself?

SECURING BRITAIN’S NETWORKS— THE GOVERNMENT’S PLAN

Give UK businesses the protection they need

NATO WILL DEFEND ITSELF

The alliance will guard its cyber domain—and invoke collective defence if required

IS CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE NOW VULNERABLE?

An ex-GCHQ chief says power grids and telecoms have been “pretty well reconnoitred” by hostile states

WHEN, NOT IF

A category-one attack is coming and the government is not prepared

INTRODUCING CYBERNOMICS

Insurance markets are lagging behind. The best bet is to build proper defences

KEEP HUAWEI OUT

The company should not be allowed further into our critical infrastructure

THE AGE OF CYBER WARFARE

Nation states have a new kind of weapon. How well is Britain preparing?

CYBERCRIME: THE NUMBERS

“Transformative technology… is changing all our lives

DON’T FORGET DIVERSITY

The cyber sector can deliver jobs for underrepresented groups

WHEN MISINFORMATION REIGNS

Fake news is having a corrosive effect on democracy—and the problem is getting worse

Reading is not believing

Citizens wanting to find out what was going on used

Is praying a waste of time?

YES Religious liberty is precious. That much, I expect