Editorial: Balances and checkmates

MARCH 2020

Letters

Too many intellectuals are unable to look dispassionately

Dominic Cummings’s war on Whitehall

Is Dominic Cummings Britain’s most successful political

The other Holocaust—which everyone but the victims forgot

If you asked me what I learned in my public education

Brexit is happening, but the constitution is saved

AT LAW

Scientists are more like you, and less like each other, than you might imagine

The word “scientist” still tends to conjure up an image

Impotence tempered by assassination: the US in the Middle East

VIEW FROM QATAR

Left field

”Have you noticed how we only win the World Cup under

Can fact-checking help save politics?

YESWhy on earth wouldn’t you want to fact-check what

JUDGES IN THE DOCK

Britain’s courts are more central to politics than ever. But with Boris Johnson seeking to bring them down a peg or two, has the judiciary overplayed its hand?

Putting the Gini back in the bottle

The debate about economic inequality never seems to get anywhere. That might be because we’re often measuring the wrong thing—and with the wrong statistic

Who was Angela Merkel?

For 15 years she has ruled Germany, becoming the most dominant figure in the west— but as she prepares to step down, do we really know who she was?

The opposite of power

Standing across the despatch box from the PM mostly brings prominence without influence. But Labour take note, successful opposition leaders have all done one thing—teach

The philosophy of George Eliot

She is one of England’s greatest novelists, but the author of Middlemarch also deserves to be remembered as one of the country’s finest philosophers

Novel ideas

Three writers who incorporate philosophy into their fiction

The green house effect

Can architects solve the climate crisis?

Android dreams

Artificial Intelligence has made remarkable advances but it may never replicate the human mind. By Philip Ball

Till the heavens be no more

A bold attempt at creating a new God-free faith plays some familiar tunes, discovers Tanjil Rashid

Unreliable comrades

Cold War writers—both communist and anti-communist—rarely toed the party line, says DJ Taylor

Passing on the baton

As conductor Marin Alsop shakes up the classical music scene in Vienna, she talks to Suna Erdem about helping other women break the glass ceiling

Books in brief

by Sinclair McKay (Viking, £20)

Recommends

Emma Crichton-Miller

A climate for kids

There are plenty of reasons not to have children, from

Football vs football

My brother’s best friend in high school used to argue

Working-classics heroes

Classics and class have the same root. That is, the

The way we were

Extracts from memoirs and diaries compiled by Ian Irvine

Golden brown

The history of empire teaches us that people go to

Policy report: The road network

Most journeys are made by road—how do we improve them?

Economics and investment

The analyst: Paul Wallace Former European Economics

Events

The Prospect BookClub usually meets every third Monday

Brief encounter

What is the first news event you can recall?

HOW TO FIX THE HOUSING CRISIS

What is the answer to Britain’s housing problem? That

BUILDING STRONG FOUNDATIONS

Robert Jenrick’s number one objective is to deliver more homes. Will he succeed?

“WE NEED THE BIGGEST HOUSE BUILDING PROJECT FOR 40 YEARS”

John Healey, the Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, lays out Labour’s plans

VALUING THE PLANET THROUGH THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT

Cutting emissions in buildings is critical to achieving net zero

SAFETY STANDARDS ARE STILL LAX

Why has the response to the Grenfell tragedy been so limited?

HOUSES FOR A GREENER FUTURE

We will only reduce emissions if we build energy-efficient homes

FIX THE HOUSING CRISIS

It’s the way to bring Britain back together

HOUSING IN NUMBERS

A survey of the landscape

BUILDING BETTER QUALITY HOMES

From Modern Methods of Construction to shared ownership, where can we look for answers?

DEVOLUTION IS KEY

Councils are well positioned to kick-start a housing revolution. Government must empower them

EVERYONE SHOULD HAVE A PLACE TO CALL HOME

A Q&A with Mark Powell, Managing Director, EDAROTH

IS MODULAR HOUSING THE ANSWER?

Can government make the most of the possibilities?

IS THERE A PERSONNEL SHORTFALL?

How can the construction industry make itself more attractive to the workforce?